“EB-5 Investments: Unique Opportunities and Challenges,” an EB-5 Conference at Baruch College

EB5 Investment Conference at Baruch College

“EB-5 Investments: Unique Opportunities and Challenges,” an EB-5 Conference at Baruch College

MSA in conjunction with the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute at the Zicklin School of Business, just concluded its first ever EB-5 conference at Baruch College “EB-5 Investments: Unique Opportunities and Challenges”. The sell-out event consisted of six expert panels covering a variety of issues and developments in the EB-5 program today with over 34 notable guests and speakers from the EB-5 community in the US and overseas.  The audience consisted of direct investors, agents from China and elsewhere, new developers, immigration attorneys and other interested stakeholders. At the conference, corporate sponsors and exhibitors had the opportunities to hold and present booths.

Panel One, “The Future of EB-5, What Can We Expect?” centered on a discussion of the prospects and potential amendments to the current EB-5 program as well as the program’s rising popularity and varying applications. The panel focused in particular on the September 30th sunset of the program and Congressional alterations in the wake of high profile fraud cases. Panel Two, “China and the Rest of the World,” centered on the global appeal of the EB-5 program to international investors, highlighting that the benefit and priority for investors is not the financial return on investment, but rather, the immigration status received which in itself provides a wide variety of perks.

The third panel took a different focus. Entitled “How effective is EB-5 as a source of Alternative Financing?” the panelists discussed the practical applications for EB-5, not just for developers, but also for ventures outside of the real estate sphere. One particular topic of discussion was the need for capital in industries such as transportation. Panel Four, “Raising EB-5 Funds: Issues to Keep in Mind,” shifted focus to legislative issues currently impacting the program. Discussion covered topics such as the changing role of regional centers towards compliance and broker-dealer duties, expected rules in the upcoming Integrity Bill and issues regarding Chinese visa retrogression.

The Conference rounded off with Panels Five and Six. Panel Five, “Real world experiences in raising EB-5 capital—what is the developer’s perspective?” provided insight into the secrets of developer success in raising EB-5 capital. Developers on the panel described their experiences working with agents in China and gave tips for developers new to EB-5 looking to court investors in other international markets. Finally, Panel Six, “Unique Issues in EB-5,” was a lively discussion encompassing a wide variety of issues, including the differences between Regional Center, Entrepreneur and Pooled Direct projects, issues that USCIS has had with Source of Funds filings and the redeployment of funds.

This MSA conference, “EB-5 Investments: Unique Opportunities and Challenges,” proved to be a major success in bringing together a wide variety of attendants, from experts in the field to those learning about it for the very first time. For full panel takeaways, click here.

For pictures of the event, please click here

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