TOP CORPORATE ATTORNEYS
KEVIN KIM
Lead Attorney,
Corporate & Securities
Geraci Law Firm
K
evin Kim is the lead attorney of Geraci
Law Firm’s corporate and securities
department. He is dedicated to providing
reliable and innovative legal solutions. Kim
focuses his practice on real estate with an
emphasis on private placements and alternative
investments for private lenders, real estate
developers and real estate entrepreneurs.
His securities and corporate practice
includes preparing complex private and
public securities offerings for alternative
investment platforms for domestic and
international clients. This includes drafting,
advising and designing securities offerings
and transactions for investment via the
EB-5 program. Kim works with developers
and regional centers on private placement
memoranda, mezzanine loan documents,
preferred equity agreements and corporate
governance. His practice also includes
corporate and transactional work for the
E-2 and L-1 visa programs. Kim lectures
and has published several articles on
mortgage funds, debt syndications and
the EB-5 program as an opportunity for
real estate developers and lenders.
WHAT DO YOU THINK
THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5
INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE?
I believe that increased regulation and
oversight will further legitimize and
normalize the EB-5 industry. This will help
eliminate the false stigma of high fraud
risk or malfeasance by ensuring that only
serious operators utilize the program.
That said, I would like to see long term,
partner of NNDKP, one of the largest and
most respected law firms in Southeastern
Europe. Kingston also served as adjunct
professor of law at Cornell Law School,
teaching corporate finance in emerging
markets. Kingston began his career as
law clerk to Hon. Harold M. Fong, Jr., chief
judge of the U.S. District Court for the
District of Hawaii. Kingston earned a B.A.
with high distinction from the University
of Virginia and received his J.D., cum
laude, from Harvard Law School. He is a
member of the Washington State Bar.
ANDREW KINGSTON
Managing Partner
Kingston Petersen
A
ndrew Kingston is managing partner
of Kingston Petersen based in Seattle,
where he provides financing, transactional
and corporate law services to select clients
throughout the world. Kingston has acted as
corporate and securities counsel to issuers in
EB-5 offerings since 2009. He previously served
as general counsel to private and publicly
traded companies. Kingston is a founding
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EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
WHAT DO YOU THINK
THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5
INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE?
The original EB-5 vision of a solitary alien
entrepreneur owning and managing a
new job-creating enterprise has morphed
into giant pools of capital financing
billion - dollar real es tate projec ts.
Existing rules are outdated, but political
dysfunction in Washington has blocked
reform. Real reform should clarify the
regional center’s proper role. Is it a
private regulator, an investment bank, a
securities intermediary, an immigration
support service or some combination?
stable reform so that the program remains
open for foreign investors to stimulate the
U.S. economy. Specifically, I would like
an increase in the total number of visas
available, either by expanding the total
number or by allowing families to apply
together. Finally, I would like specific,
detailed guidance on redeployment of
EB-5 investor capital.
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THE
ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT?
We incorporate language to permit the
NCE’s management or general partner
to redeploy funds according to USCIS
guidelines. This helps us account for
future changes in USCIS redeployment
policies. W e advise clients of the potential
Investment Advisor Act, the Investment
Company Act and state regulator y
res tr ic tio ns fo r exe c u ting o n n ew
investments for redeployment purposes.
We help NCEs and regional centers find
redeployment options compliant with
USCIS guidelines, such as real estate
loans, pools of loans or mortgage funds.
Further, we advise clients on structuring
investments so they will not have to
register as an investment adviser or risk
violating state lending regulations.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
The industry is maturing and becoming
less tolerant of cowboys and charlatans.
This is a good thing. Although the quality of
offering documents is getting better, they
are still impossible for ordinary people to
understand. I wish all private placement
memoranda were required to be 25 pages
or less and written in plain English. This
would force sponsors to eliminate the
practice of burying bad news.
HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THE
ISSUE OF REDEPLOYMENT?
We handle redeployment as a matter to
be decided by investor consent, not by the
NCE manager. This reduces opportunities
for self-dealing and gives investors a say
in what happens to their money. It also
protects the NCE manager, most of whom
are not registered investment advisers
and therefore are not licensed to make
redeployment decisions.