EB-5 Finder Fees and the Big BMW Flap: Jose’s Take

As many of my attorney readers are aware, a recent SEC decision has the EB-5 bar all abuzz and stressed out.  The BMW involved is not the car company but, rather, a law firm seeking to establish a referral relationship relating to a security.  Here’s the lowdown followed by my opinion on how this affects EB-5 practitioners.  Under the arrangement they proposed to the SEC, the Brumberg, Mackey & Wall, P.L.C. (“BMW”) firm would not: (1) engage in any negotiations with investors, (2) provide potential investors any information about the energy company that could be used as the basis for funding-related negotiations, (3) be responsible for, or make any recommendation regarding, the terms, conditions or provisions of any agreement for an investment or (4) provide any assi…

Bigger EB-5 RC = Better EB-5 RC? You Decide.

The EB-5 frenzy is really starting to get out of hand: a just-approved EB-5 Regional Center's first press release predicts that it will create 18,000 jobs in the next five years in one portion of one state. Let's see, that means that if it is in a TEA, that's, what…1800 EB-5 investors each plunking down $500,000.  That's potentially $900 million dollars worth of EB-5 funding.  Holy COW.Meanwhile, the three projects I work with — existing, operational and recognized ventures owned and managed by proven veterans with clear histories of success — speak of 8-10 investors, 90-280 jobs.The catastrophic failures of the first decade of the EB-5 Regional Centers involved optimistic predictions; historically speaking, those predictions paled in comparison to the int…

November Dubai EB-5 Event Filling Up Quickly

Folks, we opened registration for the EB-5 Seminar in Dubai after Labor Day and registrations for the free November 17th event, which will take place at the Shangri-La Dubai, are pouring in.  We have only made folks aware of this through Immigration Insider and few online mentions here and there and already have filled about 30% of the 70 available seats.There are a lot of EB-5 events going on all over the world, but our presentation is unlike anything you've seen or heard.  Instead of being "sold" anything, I will cut through all the baloney — and that's putting it politely — being pumped out by the vast majority or U.S. EB-5 Regional Centers and developers looking for YOUR investor dollars.  Attendees will hear:why, as a former U.S. visa officer and E…

As Cuba Admits Failure, Venezuela Continues Its Economic Death Spiral

The pain in the eyes of the Venezuelans I see these days is more palpable and more real than the concern across their faces as early as last fall, when I began visiting clients in Caracas and discussing the EB-5 immigrant investor "just in case" Plan B option.  While there has been a steady and growing concern that Mr. Chavez' continued mismanagement of this resource-rich paradise would lead to ruin, the reality of being the world's 8th largest petroleum producer seemed to provide some sort of invisible credibility forcefield.  If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times: "If it wasn't for the oil revenues, [fill in the catastrophe of your choice]"…Well, the shields are down, my friends, and it is heartbreaking to see the cold statistics.&…

Venezuela’s Land Redistribution is Taking a Very Human Toll

As Chavez continues to eviscerate the Venezuelan economy through corruption and mismanagement, the expropriation of private lands has remained somewhat on the back burner in terms of topics of discussion between my clients and me.  While I have had more than one client whose farms have been stolen by the government, no one I have personally met has lost his or her livelihood as a result. Unlike the rapid-fire expropriation of all private property in Cuba undertaken by Mr. Chavez' puppet master Fidel shortly after lying his way into power through flat out denials of his communist agenda, Mr. Chavez' expropriations have been very much in his own personal style:  haphazard, inconsistent, and driven by little visible strategy.  Instead of the immediate redesignation of…

Imagine What a BIG EB-5 Regional Center Would Look Like…

Myfavorite dumb EB-5 marketing quote of the week:“Weare a small regional center…our center can only accommodate up to 320 clients.”Soundslike a cozy little venture, eh? (-:  I’lltell you guys, in this colorful world of EB-5 Regional Centers, there is nevera dull moment. But sometimes the hyperbole associated with the marketing ofEB-5 RC projects goes totally overboard and kind of makes the whole sector lookridiculous.  In fact, I've had more than one savvy investor who really WASinterested in the EB-5 but concluded it was all shady business after wading throughthe muck of several bombastic RCs promising the world.Onemisconception further perpetuated by both Regional Centers and those who marketthem is that "bigger is better".  While one cannot quarrel …