Foreigners who put money into American enterprises in exchange for green cards through the federal EB-5 visa program have enjoyed the same protections from scammers that safeguard other investors.
But last year’s clarified rules for soliciting and collecting cash from EB-5 investors gave Trevor Saliba, founder of Beverly Hills investment bank NMS Capital, the idea for a new line of business: acting as a broker-dealer and investment bank for EB-5 projects.
Saliba said that being a licensed dealer presents lots of opportunity as these investments continue to pour into the United States.
“A lot of people who get involved in this, they’re paid fees for soliciting investments,” he said. “If you’re earning a fee and you’re not a licensed broker-dealer, you could get in trouble.”
Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or Finra, clarified their regulations last year. SEC officials said firms that solicit investment through the EB-5 program must be registered broker-dealers; Finra said firms must do the same kind of due diligence on an EB-5 investment as on any other before pitching them to investors – for starters, making sure the business or project to be funded by the investment isn’t a sham.
NMS announced its first EB-5 deal last week, saying it’s been hired as a financial adviser to a fund that will invest in a Mid-Wilshire hotel. The firm is providing due-diligence services on behalf of the foreign investors.
Saliba said he wanted to do more such deals by connecting developers with potential EB-5 investors by using his contacts in Asia and the construction world.
Saliba is the grandson of the late Naseeb Saliba, former partner of construction magnate Ron Tutor. Before founding NMS, he was a managing director of a British hedge fund with offices in Hong Kong.
Bigger Wallet
Pasadena’s Wallaby Financial Inc. aims to help consumers get the most out of credit card reward programs. Its smartphone app recommends the best card for each purchase by combing through the fine print of credit card rewards programs, allowing people to get more cash back with this card at the grocery store, more airline miles with that card at the gas station.
Now the financial technology company is teaming up with ThePointsGuy.com, a credit card-tracking website, hoping to increase the number of people using Wallaby’s service.
Wallaby and ThePointsGuy.com created an online tool, the TPG Maximizer, designed to recommend credit card offers to people based on spending habits, credit history and preferences, such as whether they want airline miles, cash back or other rewards. It’s similar to a tool Wallaby offers on its site, but that one asks users to provide bank account information, the TPG Maximizer doesn’t.
Matthew Goldman, Wallaby’s founder and chief executive, said the deal will help connect people who use ThePointsGuy with his service.
ThePointsGuy.com draws a monthly audience of about 700,000 unique visitors, many of them travel buffs trying to maximize credit card points. That should mean exposure to plenty of potential customers for Wallaby.
“It’s going to help us expand our number of users in a way that’s amazing,” Goldman said.
L.A. Expansion
Irvine’s Banc of California has opened a branch in Pacific Palisades, another step in the bank’s expansion in Los Angeles.
In the past two years, the bank, previously called Pacific Trust Bank, acquired Gateway Business Bank in Cerritos, Beach Business Bank in Manhattan Beach and Private Bank of California in Century City.
Banc of California has added big local names to its ranks, too. Last year, the bank hired former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as an adviser and Eric Holoman, president of Magic Johnson Enterprises Inc., as a board member.
C-Suite News
Ceron Rhee has joined Chicago investment firm Pritzker Group Private Capital as vice president of health care investments. He will be based in the firm’s West L.A. office. Rhee was previously a vice president at TPG Capital, a Fort Worth, Texas, private equity firm. … Parham Medhat has joined downtown L.A. lender CTBC Bank Corp. USA as executive vice president and head of operations. He was formerly a senior vice president with Opus Bank in Irvine. … Marc Campbell has joined Tucson, Ariz., wealth management firm TCI Wealth Advisors as an adviser and manager of its new Santa Monica office. He was previously a regional director in Dimensional Fund Advisors’ Santa Monica office.
Staff reporter James Rufus Koren can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 225.
