Clem Turner
Securities AttorneyYou have asked some questions that may be based on faulty assumptions. When you talk about pooling funds and setting up a regional center, I think you mean pooling funds to make an EB5 investment in a job creating project. I will try to answer each of your questions in sequence 1) Of course, you can pool funds and talent to start a regional center. There is no minimum capital requirement, but USCIS will want to see that you will have enough capital to handle the day to day expenses of running a regional center. HOWEVER, from a green card perspective, each investor must contribute $500,000 (for a TEA project). That money cannot be pooled, one person must receive sole credit for that $500,000 investment, although that investment covers green cards for the investor and their spouse and minor children. 2) The requirements of running a Regional Center are primarily to make sure 10 jobs per investor are created and to make sure the money is returned, but there are other duties as well. For instance, regional centers have reporting requirements with USCIS. An immigration attorney can give you greater details. 3) You can request authorization for your Regional Center to make investments in any type of business. You only need to make enough money to insure the Investors will be repaid, with a nominal return. 4) Accordingly, you can invest in "start-ups" however you should keep in mind that EB5 is about job creation. You will need to create 10 jobs per investor. Most start-ups are staffed thin, so job creation will be a problem. 5) There are no SEC requirements for starting a Regional Center. There are SEC requirements related to the sale of Interests in the entity that will receive EB5 Investor funds. 6) Technically, most regional centers invest in start-ups, as typically the entity that receives the EB5 investor funds has no operating history. However, that EB5 entity then invests or loans those funds to a Project company, that may or may not be a start-up, but should be affiliated with individuals and companies with long distinguished track records. What I think you mean to ask is whether any regional centers are investing in small, innovative companies that may not yet be generating income. As I said earlier, these companies typically do not have the job creation numbers that would make an EB5 investment worthwhile. I hope this helps.
