Kurt Reuss: Proper disclosure is an important issue with this I-526 product, considering it is a new product with no claims paid to date. Doug, how do you approach a product like this, when developing disclosures in the PPM?
Doug Hauer: I think you have to be very careful to, in plain language, describe the mechanics of how this policy is actually working.
An investor who is reviewing the PPM should be able to review the section on the insurance and walk away with an understanding of how mechanically a policy would work and what kinds of claims would result in there being coverage and what kinds of claims would result in a denial of coverage.
I think the trap for an issuer or an EB5 regional center issuing a deal is that the term 'insurance' conveys a safety net, or a risk-free proposition. You have to be careful here if you're an attorney drafting a PPM for a client; you need to spell out in clear terms what the limitations are and what the parameters of the product are.
I think it would be important to alert investors, in a PPM, of the risks with this product.
One area that we see in these policies that leads to some confusion is how 'fraud' is defined. Fraud, in a securities law context, when you're talking about an issuer, can mean many different things.
It's going to be important to calibrate those disclosures, make them clear, put those disclosures in plain language, and ensure that all parties in a deal get protection through understanding what the limitations of the product are.