TOP CORPORATE ATTORNEYS
BRUCE ROSETTO
GREENBERG TRAURIG
Bruce C . Rosetto represents private and public companies , private equity funds , investment banks , and has extensive experience with the EB-5 program . He has broad experience in public company securities work , private placement financings , corporate governance , and alternate assets . His practice focuses on entrepreneurs and small to middle market public companies throughout the United States in a variety of industries . He also forms private equity funds and family offices and represents affiliated portfolio companies . In addition , he advises clients in connection with raising capital for and establishing regional centers to administer projects qualifying for investment under the EB-5 visa program .
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE EB-5 REFORM AND INTEGRITY ACT OF 2022 ?
I am pleased to see Congress has made a serious attempt to provide a long-term solution to problems that have been inherent in the EB-5 program . Like any legislative “ fix ,” there are some good things that came out of this Act , such as more oversight , grandfathering and increasing the investment amounts . On the other hand , it creates some confusion , adds significant burdens and demands on the regional center , and I do not like the elimination of “ pooled ” direct EB-5 programs . I think this will hurt many industries , and in particular the restaurant and franchise sectors .
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THE ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT ?
I have not made significant changes to how I advise clients on the redeployment issue . The 2022 Act specifically recognizes redeployment and has expanded it to be permissible throughout the U . S . as opposed to the approved regional center area . This is helpful . I always advised clients that the original project had to be implemented without material change so the 2022 Act has codified this . The 2022 Act now requires that the job creating entity has repaid the capital and we will advise clients accordingly . This could be a bit more troublesome but we will navigate through it .
JOHN TISHLER
SHEPPARD MULLIN
John Tishler is a partner at global law firm Sheppard Mullin , where he leads the firm ’ s EB-5 Project Finance team . Tishler ’ s practice includes corporate governance , capital markets , corporate finance , business transactions , mergers and acquisitions and technology . Tishler ’ s clients include EB-5 fund managers , developers , regional centers and other EB-5 intermediaries . His projects have included nationally recognized hotels , mixed use and residential developments . Tishler is a frequent writer and speaker on corporate governance and EB-5 , and the co-editor and coauthor of The EB-5 Handbook : A Guide for Investors and Developers . He is a graduate of Cornell University and Yale Law School .
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE EB-5 REFORM AND INTEGRITY ACT OF 2022 ?
The Reform and Integrity Act should be a major benefit for the industry . I believe that certain EB-5 offerings will become more attractive to investors based on the new visa priority classifications and therefore will provide better predictability for our issuer clients . We have , for a decade , spoken of the importance of regional centers and NCEs using securities law best practices for their EB-5 offerings . The best ones already did so before the RIA . I believe the RIA will help to level the playing field , eliminating any perceived advantages of cutting corners and allowing issuers to compete for investors based on the quality of their projects .
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THE ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT ?
Redeployment is a major event that requires navigation of important legal and governance issues , including securities laws , LLC / limited partnership law , fiduciary duties , project finance , tax and immigration matters . A successful redeployment requires balancing the interests of investors , intermediaries and developers in the face of regulatory uncertainty . Investors often object to redeployment plans and EB-5 funds are facing threats of lawsuits as they endeavor to redeploy within a commercially reasonable time . This has been a major focus of our EB-5 practice for the last two years .
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