International Law and Immigration
Ca. Int'l Law Journal 2018 WINTER, VOL. 26, NO. 1
Content
- Welcome From the Journal's Editor-in-chief
- The California International Law Journal
- California Now Open For Business In International Arbitration
- The International Law Section of the California Lawyers Association
- Sec Confirms Its Authority In Eb-5 and Tags Immigration Attorney For Unregistered Brokering In California Federal Court Win: Sec V. Feng
- Steel, Tariffs and National Security Under the Trump Administration
- Welcome From the International Law Section's Co-chairs
- The International Law Section Presents Eighth Annual Warren M. Christopher International Lawyer of the Year Award
- The International Law Section Continues Its Dynamic Relationship With Foreign Bar Associations Through Friendship Agreements and Conferences
- Unarmed Attacks: Cyber Combatants and the Right To Defend
- 2018 Cla Annual Meeting Report
- Restorative Justice Solutions For Mass Incarceration
- Thief In the Night: the Invasive Nature of Home Internet of Things and Its Attempt To Silently Shift Rules of Personal Data Ownership
SEC CONFIRMS ITS AUTHORITY IN EB-5 AND TAGS IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY FOR UNREGISTERED BROKERING IN CALIFORNIA FEDERAL COURT WIN: SEC V. FENG
Charles S. Kaufman*
A U.S. District Court decision in California has strengthened the legal foundation for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its initiative to enforce federal securities laws in the marketing of investment opportunities under the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program, and underscored the risk of ignoring those laws. In the closely watched case SEC v. Feng,1 the court issued two noteworthy holdings:
- EB-5 investments are "securities" under the federal securities laws and subject to regulation under those laws.
- An attorney who acts as a broker for a client’s investment in an EB-5 investment opportunity must register with the SEC as a broker-dealer.
In reaching its conclusions the Feng court also affirmed, in the EB-5 context, that information about the payment of referral fees or commissions to intermediaries is material to investors as a matter of law, and that an immigration attorney who participates in an offering and omits disclosure of his receipt of commissions is liable under the anti-fraud provisions of the securities laws.2 Issuers and others who omit this information "in connection with the offer or sale of a security" would face similar statutory liability.