TOP CORPORATE AT TORNEYS
ROGELIO CARRASQUILLO
CARRASQUILLO LAW GROUP P.C. | MANAGING SHAREHOLDER
Rogelio “Roy” Carrasquillo is
the managing shareholder of
Carrasquillo Law Group P.C.
and chair of its EB-5 Immigrant
Inves tor Program ser vices
and compliance practice. He
is experienced with public-private partnership projects
using EB-5 funds and other economic incentives, including
Opportunity Zones and tax credits (LIHTC, NMTC, HTC).
He assists clients in equity and debt offerings registered
under U.S. securities laws as well as the issuance of
equity and debt in transactions, principally Regulation S
and Regulation D offerings. Carrasquillo is a graduate of
Georgetown University and University of Pennsylvania and
is admitted to practice in New York and Puerto Rico.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
Due to the difficulties to raise capital for larger transactions,
we are seeing clients focus on successful smaller raises
and EB-5 direct deals. These deals also tend to integrate
various sources of funds to the project’s capital stack,
including tax credits, grants and bonds. We have also seen a
shift in marketing of projects. Clients are no longer focusing
on China, but instead focusing in alternative markets such
as Latin America and India. Finally, we are seeing that
developers and regional centers are also focusing their
attention on securities law compliance at all stages of the
EB-5 transaction.
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING
THE ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT?
We work with our clients to ensure that their EB-5 offering
documents cover redeployment both from a securities and
immigration point of view. We include options to provide our
clients flexibility and compliance with USCIS rules and
regulations. We try to reach a balance between protecting
the investors, providing the right disclosures, and providing
the developer the highest level of flexibility in the process of
redeployment. Nonetheless, when dealing with older
transactions that did not originally contemplate
redeployment, we are very careful to evaluate our clients’
options to ensure compliance with immigration and
securities rules and regulations.
RONALD FIELDSTONE
SAUL EWING ARNSTEIN & LEHR LLP | CHAIR OF GLOBAL IMMIGRATION & FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Ronald Fieldstone, chair of
Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr
LLP’s global immigration and
foreign investment group and
head of the Firm’s Opportunity
Zone group, practices
primarily in the areas of corporate/securities and taxation
law. Fieldstone serves as corporate/securities counsel for
industries involving EB-5 investor offerings. He represents
developers and regional centers in EB-5 matters, currently
handling more than 300 EB-5 projects with combined
capital raise of nearly $8 billion. His corporate/securities
work includes the preparation of private placement
memoranda and related documents. Fieldstone lectures
and publishes about the subject of EB -5 corporate/
securities for numerous government- sponsored
organizations, industry groups and associations.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
The EB-5 industry is going through a major transition due to
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EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
uncertainty in legislation, retrogression and a shift in
marketing outlets. We will experience transactions
becoming more economically attractive to the EB-5
investors, with a more meaningful rate of return combined
with far more equity from developers and greater
transparency in the offering elements and marketing
materials. Marginal projects will not survive in the new
market conditions.
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING
THE ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT?
Since 2009, the industry progressed. I became involved in
all facets of the process, including the securities law issues
making numerous regulatory requirements that had a
significant impact on the structuring of transactions. I
needed to become a quasi-expert in the immigration
components of the program to better understand the
securities and corporate issues. I used this background to
also undertake work related to SEC investigations, tax
planning matters and the real estate component of the
loan models. I have enjoyed the multidisciplinary aspects
of the program.