美国投资移民 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

[zoema]

引自http://eb5info.com/posts/80-can-an-insurance-policy-protect-eb-5-investors-from-loss-of- principal-

Can an Insurance Policy Protect EB-5 Investors From Loss of Principal?

The following is the first installment in a 4-part series about a speciality insurance policy being sold to EB-5 investors in the Idaho State Regional Center. The policy has raised a number of questions among EB-5 practitioners and other EB-5 visa experts questions this series seeks to address.

The EB-5 playing field gets more crowded every day. With so many regional centers competing for so few investors, it almost goes without saying that new players in the market will snag every opportunity to distinguish themselves from their peers.

But regional center operators know that all EB-5 investors are subject to the same requirements: $500,000 to $1 million from a single investor must be put at risk and create ten new jobs within two years. While healthy competition among regional centers is a good thing, is providing "creative" incentives to invest really in the best interest of the investor?

That depends on the incentives and on who you ask.

On several occasions this past month, sources in the industry have approached EB5info.com with concerns about an insurance product being offered to a select group of EB-5 investors by a small, Missouri-based company called Sidecars Insurance.

According to the company's policy description for its "Project Performance Investment Reimbursement" insurance, it will pay up to $500,000 toward "the deficiency amount difference between insured's original investment and amount paid to insured" by Blackhawk Gold, LLC the company handling the gold mine project promoted by the Idaho State Regional Center. Investors simply provide a premium payment of $35,000 and the insurance is theirs.

A sales presentation presumably being shown to prospective Chinese EB-5 investors the presentation is in both English and Chinese makes clear that those who invest in Idaho's Blackhawk Gold project are the only EB-5 investors eligible to purchase this insurance policy.

In other words, if an EB-5 investor in the gold mine project and only the gold mine project purchases this policy from Sidecars Insurance, he or she is guaranteed a return of principal. Given that the law requires all EB-5 investments to remain "at risk," is a reimbursement insurance scheme even legal?

 

[zoema]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

引自http://eb5info.com/posts/81-the-legal-question-insurance-for-eb-5-visa-investments

Continued from the first installment in a 4-part series on investment reimbursement insurance for EB-5 visa investors:​

Jason Blatt, an attorney representing the Idaho State Regional Center, believes that the Sidecars policy is completely legal. Responding to questions from EB5info.com, he offered the following:

When an insurance company, a third party not related to the EB-5 regional center or its investment projects, sells an insurance policy to an EB-5 investor, and the EB-5 investor uses funds completely unrelated to his or her $500,000 EB-5 investment funds to buy that insurance, the $500,000 in EB-5 investment funds invested by an investor in a regional center's project remain 'at risk.'

Blatt cites USCIS' response to a question posed during a 2009 EB-5 stakeholder session, which maintains the legality of such insurance schemes in cases when the policy is provided by an "unrelated" third party and "does not constitute a redemption agreement or a guaranteed buy-back arrangement for the alien investor's investment in the commercial enterprise."

But that explanation goes on to state that a "determination" of whether a specific indemnity policy does or does not violate the law "has to be made on a case-by-case basis."

Language like this leaves other attorneys unsure whether such an insurance guarantee really is permissible.
"These arrangements have a significant possibility of being found to undermine the 'at risk' nature of an investment," said immigration attorney Robert Divine in comments submitted to EB5info.com.

Divine, a former Chief Counsel and Acting Director of USCIS, acknowledged that arguments in favor of such insurance products could sometimes be valid. After all, if investors purchase the insurance with their own money in a transaction unrelated to the EB-5 green card investment, one could make a case for the policy's permissibility.

But given USCIS' response during the stakeholder session, Divine admits it's not so simple:

This USCIS evasive answer is classically unhelpful to people trying to plan their affairs. As a practical matter, since USCIS does not ask about insurance arrangements in Form I-526, someone who bought [the policy] would not tend to disclose it. Given USCIS’ murky position, one could argue, if later challenged for nondisclosure, that it was not a material omission. USCIS should clear this up.
​

Blatt, on the other hand, insists that an investor's choice to purchase the insurance is unquestionably within the bounds of the law. Purchasing the policy from a third party "does not change the fact that the investor's funds are at risk," he said. "Purchase of such insurance is legal."

To provide a frame of reference, there are EB-5 specialty insurance products about which nobody has raised any concern. However, those policies usually cover the regional centers themselves, not immigrant investors.


David Souders, a broker at Todd Associates, Inc., offers errors and omissions (E&O) and directors and officers (D&O) insurance policies that specifically address the potential liabilities of regional centers and their principals.

"Suits can be brought against regional centers and their affiliates for a variety of reasons," Souders explained. "The policies we craft for our insureds are tailored to protect and defend them against potential litigation stemming from investors, competitors, regulatory bodies, etc."

But that is a far cry from guaranteeing the investment. "I don't offer a policy that promises a repayment of principal to the investor," Souders said.

​

 

[zoema]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

引自 http://eb5info.com/posts/82-life-se...ims-for-an-insured-eb-5-green-card-investment-

Continued from the second article in our 4-part series about an insurance program that promises a repayment of principal to EB-5 green card investors in the Idaho State Regional Center's Blackhawk Gold project:

A particularly troubling feature of the Sidecars policy is one method by which it guarantees a return of the deficiency between one's total EB-5 investment and any repayment of principal by the regional center.

According to the same English and Chinese-language sales presentation confirming that the Blackhawk Gold project is the only one eligible for the Project Performance Investment Reimbursement insurance, the $35,000 premium paid to Sidecars by an EB-5 investor is ceded to another company USSafe Reinsurance Company which then purchases fractional ownership in life settlement policies from Life Partners, Inc.

Life Partners Holdings (LPHI) is one of the only publicly-traded companies specializing in the sale of life settlements life insurance policies that are sold when the insured no longer needs them. Investors purchase fractional ownership in the policies and collect when the policy matures (i.e. the policyholder dies).

Unfortunately, Life Partners does not have what one would call a stellar reputation in the industry. A Wall Street Journal investigation last year determined that the company frequently underestimates the life expectancies of individuals in whom its customers invest. "In 2003, of 299 policies the firm brokered, the insured as of a year ago had lived past the Life Partners life expectancy in 279 instances," according to the Journal.

That investigation came after a Securities & Exchange Commission task force asked Congress to make life settlement transactions subject to federal securities law. The SEC recommendation came in light of "a number of successful actions alleging fraud in connection with life-settlement securities," many of which had to do with misrepresentation of life expectancy data to investors.

Just this month, Life Partners received a Wells notice from the SEC indicating impending civil charges to be filed against the company and two of its executives in relation to life expectancy estimates.

On June 6, the company received an updated Wells notice indicating that its CFO would also be included among those charged.

Any potential Idaho gold mine investors who were exposed to the Sidecars sales presentation were informed that the investor insurance policy "provides a 1-to-1 equity ratio" of premiums to claims. That assertion rests on the assumption that any life settlement policies purchased from Life Partners will "mature" by the time an investor files a claim.

And any projected maturity dates for the life settlement policies must be based on Life Partners life expectancy estimates, which the SEC finds questionable.

Given that Gary Tharp, the "EB-5 Liaison" at Sidecars Insurance, participated in a seminar last year promoting the gold mine project alongside Idaho Governor Butch Otter, it would be hard to deny any connection between the Sidecars policy and the Idaho State Regional Center. After all, "the Blackhawk Gold EB-5 projects" are the only ones USSafe Reinsurance company is willing to insure.

An independent translator was able to confirm that Gary Tharp, Governor Otter, and Brian Dickens of the Idaho Department of Commerce spoke at the event, which included an overview of the insurance program.

EB5info.com contacted Sima Muroff at the Idaho State Regional Center with regard to the Sidecars policy offered to his project's investors. He declined to comment on the sales presentation, noting that it was not authored by the regional center or its legal counsel. Muroff also stated that the regional center and its projects "have no relationship with insurance."

Gary Tharp likewise told EB5info.com that the "Idaho State Regional Center has no direct relationship with Sidecars Insurance Company or the Sidecars Insurance program for EB-5 investors."

Acknowledging that the company led presentations in China that leaned heavily toward the life settlement policies' ability to pay claims, Tharp also stated that for those EB-5 investors who prefer, Sidecars "will not use life settlement investments for any of the assets associated with their policies." Instead, any money used to pay claims would come from outside investors unrelated to the EB-5 program

These investors put their money in what Tharp calls an "excess risk program." Assuming all investors buy insurance, the total risk exposure for the EB-5 investment is $60 million. While Tharp realizes that not all investors in Idaho's gold mine project will buy the insurance, he maintains that Sidecars would have the assets to pay claims even if every investor did purchase a policy.

In other words, if an investor does not trust a Life Partners life settlement to pay claims on his or her purchase of a Sidecars insurance policy, he or she can opt for a version of the policy that taps claims reserves funded by outside investors who have no connection to the EB-5 program.

Tharp also told EB5info.com that he still believes the life settlement policies are a reliable source of funds for the investor counting on the Sidecars promise of 1-to-1 premium to claims reserves. The option to have claims paid via an alternative funding source comes "in light of the negative publicity" received by the Life Partners life settlement program, he said.

 

[zoema]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

Continued from the third article in our 4-part series about an EB-5 reimbursement insurance program:

The insurance arrangement Tharp describes the one involving outside investors is an uncommon one, but not unheard of in the industry. Companies will sometimes set up a vehicle into which they place funds from investors with no underwriting experience. In exchange, investors receive a percentage of the insurance premiums. Enough funds must be put up to ensure the payment of claims. The fewer claims that are actually paid, the more money investors stand to make.

The entity into which investors put up funds is known as a "reinsurance sidecar." Hence, Sidecars Insurance Company.
But the use of life settlement policies to pay claims is somewhat unconventional for a reinsurance sidecar. Whether investors opt for the life settlement "option" or not, the Idaho State Regional Center makes a point of disassociating itself from the Sidecars Insurance policy publicly, at least. Legally, the purchase of such a policy must come from a completely "unrelated" commercial enterprise.

"The regional center merely informs investors that such a policy may be available," explained Jason Blatt, maintaining that the regional center has no connection to the insurer. "Whether [investors] buy the insurance is up to them, and is a matter between each individual investor and an insurer," he said.

So even the Idaho State Regional Center cannot actually recommend the Project Performance Investment Reimbursement policy even though it's the only regional center whose investors Sidecars is willing to insure.

Like many issues in EB-5 visa law, reimbursement insurance for investors is a thorny one. With little precedent for the permissibility of a Sidecars-like policy, it is hard to acknowledge purchasing one as being in the best interest of the investor.

And it is hard to acknowledge life settlements from Life Partners as being in the best interest of anybody.

http://eb5info.com/posts/83-a-difficult-insurance-policy-to-recommend-for-immigrant-investors

 

[美国雅商]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

该报告作者MICHAEL GIBSON 先生及提及的爱达荷州金矿项目的亚洲独家代理公司WSLK总裁RAYMOND KU 先生将共同应邀出席由我公司于6月18日在加州圣地亚哥市OMNI 度假酒店举办的EB-5培训营活动，并发表讲话，欢迎有意投资人参加这场非常有趣的学习和交流活动。机会难得，即刻网上报名： http://www.EB5BootCamp.com

 

[zoema]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

请另找楼做广告

更正，本博客的作者不是移民律师。是EB-5项目宣传和评估机构。

 

[OlivierWU]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

香港投资移民 可以买保险 好像有些种类的 保险被纳入可投资项目

美国投资移民没有听说过可以买保险

 

[visatousa]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

楼上的别打岔，香港资本投资者入境计划，说的“投连险”是被香港入境处认可的投资类别。

这里我们讨论的是，做美国Eb-5投资移民，可不可以用与项目没有关系的钱购买保险，来保证投资款金额的返还。这个保险是在得到526批准之后买的。

 

[zoema]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

楼上的别打岔，香港资本投资者入境计划，说的“投连险”是被香港入境处认可的投资类别。

这里我们讨论的是，做美国Eb-5投资移民，可不可以用与项目没有关系的钱购买保险，来保证投资款金额的返还。这个保险是在得到526批准之后买的。

有关买黄金或保险是在投资人申请I-526前宣传过的，投资人参与这个项目是基于买黄金或保险这个条件，如果投资人在I-526申请时没有disclose这个协议, 移民局在申请I-829前查出来，移民局可以认为是fraud, 可能秋后算账，投资人要明白这个道理。

所以跟项目有关的文件，都要跟移民局坦白，别忘了1990年代那些搞花招的EB-5项目方和投资人的下场。EB-5是风险投资，这是EB-5法案的基本点。要控制风险，也不要把移民局蒙在鼓里。

 

[美国雅商]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

请另找楼做广告

更正，本博客的作者不是移民律师。是EB-5项目宣传和评估机构。

该论坛几乎成了你小养老院的广告专栏了，就不必告诫我们了。

 

[visatousa]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

恩 人家这是消遣打发时光，养老院从她去年12月进来，就在卖，到现在还没卖完，不是就8个名额吗？

给相关人士一个忠告，不要在论坛上花您80%的时间，去赚那20%的收益（还要有才行）。这也是二八定律。

 

[visatousa]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

有关买黄金或保险是在投资人申请I-526前宣传过的，投资人参与这个项目是基于买黄金或保险这个条件，如果投资人在I-526申请时没有disclose这个协议, 移民局在申请I-829前查出来，移民局可以认为是fraud, 可能秋后算账，投资人要明白这个道理。

所以跟项目有关的文件，都要跟移民局坦白，别忘了1990年代那些搞花招的EB-5项目方和投资人的下场。EB-5是风险投资，这是EB-5法案的基本点。要控制风险，也不要把移民局蒙在鼓里。

是你心态太阴暗了，我们是守法公民，当然向移民局坦诚告知。

但是必须钱到位，投资行为发生，然后才谈得上保险的事。你体会到其中的巧妙了吗？

请参看论坛其他帖子。

 

[visatousa]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

该项目区域中心的法律顾问是Lincoln Stone。

 

[zoema]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

是你心态太阴暗了，我们是守法公民，当然向移民局坦诚告知。

但是必须钱到位，投资行为发生，然后才谈得上保险的事。你体会到其中的巧妙了吗？

请参看论坛其他帖子。

购黄金或买保险该是投资人的商业计划中的一部分，投资人是这样申请I-526拿到批准的吗？

你自己说是I-526批准以后做的？

 

[visatousa]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

叫声老师我告诉你，以免被你说成“班门弄斧”。

美国人的事你还是付费咨询美国人吧。不过这里可以送你一条，很显然这不是购买黄金，买保险也是和商业计划没有关系的。

根据私募条例，我不能向你这样既不是客户又不是投资人代表律师的无关人员出示有关文件。

 

[visatousa]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 一个非移民律师的见解

请另找楼做广告

更正，本博客的作者不是移民律师。是EB-5项目宣传和评估机构。

本项目是唯一一个由保险公司经过量化核算保值的EB-5项目，经保险公司精算，该项目获得投资保值的机会为97%,因此，投资人可以支付投资款7%的保费，获得100%的赔付保证。

 

[visatousa]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

金矿项目明显的优势

 

[加美商务专家]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

偷换概念！误导视听！典型的中国移民中介。

 

[zoema]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

有关买黄金或保险是在投资人申请I-526前宣传过的，投资人参与这个项目是基于买黄金或保险这个条件，如果投资人在I-526申请时没有disclose这个协议, 移民局在申请I-829前查出来，移民局可以认为是fraud, 可能秋后算账，投资人要明白这个道理。

再次提醒！

 

[加美商务专家]

回复: 移民投资可以买保险吗？- 移民律师的见解

再次提醒！