The Emperor of Cool - SBE and Sam

Okay, I have to admit it - I LOVE SBE. This article is undeniably biased (in these days, who doesn't). If you are looking at something more plain or boring, please logon their website at www.sbe.com for more details.

I had a little bit appreciation of Sam, and his company SBE and his background initially via Google (thanks GG), I can literally hear me talking to myself then - "okey, a 2nd rich generation again, oh well...."

Then in this May, I had the chance to visit the famous Sahara Las Vegas (SLS LV to be), done much deeper research into SBE, and of course tried verities of Martini and Nitrogen Drinks and many "wow" from Jose Andrés’;  met Sam in China this August, then again toured Sahara with Guangzhou daily and some clients and visited other SBE's properties and their headquarter in Los Angeles.......
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I was and still am blown away, and I found the necessity to sit me down and write below.
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There are many reasons a company might be successful. But SBE is destined to be successful. Here is why:

• Sam has resources, including $$ (please search Nazarian Family on Google) to bring the best people together from different industries;
• From 2002 to 2012, 10 years short time, SBE quickly expanded into Huston, Chicago, New York and Florida in hospitality, real estate, and entertainment; they now have 47 existing properties, 23 under developing, and 60 in prospective;
• SBE is young, cutting edge, and exciting with exclusive partners such as Phillip Stark, and Jose Andrés .
• Utilize Social media tools to market and compete with other old-fashioned hospitality operationers; their fans had multiplies 6 times within ONE year;
• SBE explores and optimizes customer consumptions with its diverse portfolio of properties and customized hospitality;
• In depth, horrifyingly-detailed market research in every possible consumer/need market;
• Integrated suppliers, therefore optimized interests. In most of the hotels, the restaurants, bars or lounges in that hotel are all owned by SBE. There is no dilution of consumers in that sense;

And last but not least - Sam/SBE is indeed "the Emperor of Cool"....

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Disclaimer:  as reasonable reader, this article of course if not legal nor investment advice, nor it should be relied upon in your Eb5 related decision.  This article is only my personal view of this company and comments to that effect. 

copyrights belong to SBE

Copyrights belong to SBE

Copyrights belong to SBE

Old Sahara's new spirit - SLS Las Vegas

Disclaimer: this is not legal nor investment advice.  For a complete EB5 compliance report on this project, please contact me at sharonshi@eastsummitlegal.com



previous Sahara Lobby and casino area

previous theater

hotel rooms 3 towers

outside on the "stripe"




front



monorail stops at Sahara

sahara in its golden time

previous pool area



Seminar Updates

                                                                     

Sharon is very excited to be invited as one of the penal speakers of a prestigious EB-5 seminar held at Park Hyatt Hotel in Beijing, China today.   This seminar is dedicated specifically to the EB-5 offering of SLS Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, the hottest EB-5 project in China’s EB-5 market this summer.  Thanks to Mr. Larry Wang, CEO of China’s most recognized EB-5 immigration agency, this seminar has obtained another great success among Chinese media and EB-5 investors.

SLS Las Vegas Hotel & Casino EB-5 offering is a unique Hotel & Casino project located right on the famous Las Vegas Stripe. It is specifically designed to fit EB-5 job creation requirements with minimal investment risks for EB-5 investors.  It is a renovation project on one of the historical icons in Las Vegas’s hotel and casino history – the old Sahara Hotel.  From the conception of this project, it has attracted the attention of many EB-5 investors, immigration agents, U.S. financial institutions, institutional developer and contractors, and immigration attorneys.  It truly is a shining new star in the EB-5 market.

At the seminar, Sharon was invited to discuss and share with friends from the Chinese media information regarding recent EB-5 policies, trends, EB-5 antidotes, and most of all—news on the “sunset” of EB-5 pilot program on September 30th this year.  The timing was perfect, and Sharon was able to share the news that the U.S. Senate has unanimously passed the extension of the EB-5 pilot program. Although the extension still needs to be passed by the House before President Obama officially signs it into law, at this point, it is almost certain that news regarding the affirmation of the extension will be released prior to September 30^th.

This EB5 project is sponsored by Las Vegas Regional Center, a USCIS approved EB-5 regional center. The Regional Center is allowed to operate over 30 clusters of business activities, including hotel, casino, and manufacturing...etc. Sharon has been collaborating with Las Vegas Regional Center and its fantastic owners for the past few years, and during the course of collaborating, established trust and accountabilities both ways.   Sharon is very excited to be able to be involved in this exciting project and work with trusted friends as well as highly respected EB-5 professionals, including Mr. Ron Klasko, the most notable and respected EB-5 attorney in the United States.

The seminar also invited the founder and CEO of SBE - Mr. Sam Nararian, and the Managing Director of Stockbridge – Mr. Darren Drake.  SBE and Stockbridge co-own the SLS Las Vegas Hotel & Casino project.  Sharon was delighted to finally meet with Sam and Darren for the first time and has the opportunity to know more of the person behind this great EB-5 offering. 

The SLS hotel brand is one of the subsidiaries of the SBE brand. Currently, SLS has a chain of hotels operating in Los Angeles, New York, Beverly Hills, and SBE just opened a new SLS hotel in Miami South Beach this May.

For more information about this EB-5 offering, American Dream Fund, Stockbridge, and SBE, please log on their website at www.adreamfund.com, www.slslasvegas.com.cn, www.sbe.com, and www.stockbridge.com


Disclaimer:

the above is my personal share of my whereabouts and some news about EB5 project. Its not investment/legal advice nor anything relates to soliciting investment to this project. Investors are advised to consult their own immigration and investment consultants for Eb5 opportunity.

关于筛选投资独立EB-5项目需要问的一些问题

以下是我对关于判断EB-5是否适合作为一个新的项目或商业扩展所提出的一些问题：
（本文原文撰写者为Suzanne Lazicki, 此文乃和原作者合作基础上的中文翻译件，供中文读者参考）

1.  岗位创造：

·   在保留所有原有现存公国岗位的同时，新的商业项目或扩展项目是否包含了每1名投资者的投资就能创建10个以上全职职位？

·   新建工作岗位是否是全新创造的，而不是将原有不同地区或部门现存的岗位调至新的项目成为新的岗位？

·  新项目是否能处理所有繁琐的书面工作来证明所有的工资收入记录，以及在投资前和投资者2-3年有条件时段期间能证明全职雇员人数的I-9表格？ 这是不是与要求证明其所有雇员都是合法的美国工人一样？

2.   结构：

·   雇员是否从接收EB-5实体投资款的机构收到W-2？

(作为独立EB-5项目，无法做出贷款安排，且如果投资实体独立于岗位创建实体，那么其中一方就需要成为另一方的全资附属机构)

·   EB-5投资者是否会涉足管理层？(如果实体属于有限合伙人制，那么投资者有资格介入管理层。如果是其他类型的实体，那么可能需要将其先纳入董事会或者需要授予其某种特权进行参与。)

·   接收EB-5投资款的机构是在1990年11月29日之后成立的吗？(如果不是，就不能认定其为 “新建”机构，且必须经历其他的繁琐的过程。)

 

3.  时机：  

·   该项目/商业扩张是否已经具备所有必需要素，并能在收到EB-5投资款后短期内走上正轨？

·   该业务能否承受EB-5投资者招募等候的时间？(如果投资者愿意，EB‐5 资金马上就能投入使用。但是，有许多投资者希望在收到I-526批准之前将所投入的资金存放在托管账号里，这样就要花费大约9个月的时间准备申请相关材料以及办理申请所花费的时间。)

·   2年内是否能创建工作岗位？

·     业务的新职位招募是否能延续至收到EB-5投资款后？

·   投资在2年内是否会被分散？

·   是否能够在至少5年内保持岗位创建 (考虑到签证申请所耗费的时间)? 

     4. 投资：

·   所有EB-5投资款 的使用都是明确与每个岗位创建挂钩的吗？(应该这么说，所花费的投资款与业务发展有关。偿还债务或长期涵盖普通营业费用是2个有争议的款项使用方式。)

·    所有EB-5款项是否都会及时应用？(理论上讲在投资者2年有条件的时段会制定花费所有投资款的计划。如果长期保留部分投资款将会有一个问题：美国移民局可能会怀疑保留投资款是为了将来偿还给投资者，而并不是用于岗位创建。)

·   

该项目/业务是否也依靠非EB-5的资金来源？如果是的话，是否能提供关于非EB-5资金已经或者可能会是可靠的相关证据？

5. 市场和实际方面的考虑

·   该项目/业务是否位于失业率较高的地区？ (多数EB‐5 投资者青睐 

 $500,000美元 选项。如果投资可靠并且保证回报，其将吸引

$1 百万美元的投资者。 ) 

·   该业务是否能提供投资5年后的退出战略？ (多数EB-5投资者参与其中是为了拿到绿卡，并且都十分关心退出战略。其中一些人将自己定位为投资者和移民，他们或许会考虑更长远的机遇。) 

·   投资是否很保守？ (多数 EB‐5 投资者看中的是安全性，而非利润。) 

·   该项目/业务是否与知名品牌协作？ (一个知名的专营权，一份与知名品牌的合同，知名赞助商都有助于推广该项目。) 

· 项目拥有者在关于如何招募EB-5投资者的方面是否有任何联系人或想法？

·    项目拥有者是否愿意接受由移民担任挂名管理职位，并且如果项目失败或未能创建足够工作岗位的情况下，项目拥有者是否能承担一位高净值个人及其家人被驱逐出境的风险和挑战？

相关链接

关于EB-5项目：

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=facb83453

d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=facb83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD 

关于EB-5投资者申请：

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=8bf89ea1c

35be210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=8bf89ea1c35be210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD 

Happy Mother's Day! Mom!

Private Offering Vs. illegal fund raising under china criminal law and supreme court interpretations

Few basic factors to know re China law

·        You are subject to China law jurisdiction as long as you are doing business in China; consequences or result are majorly happened in China, the other party is a Chinese citizen or the agreements between parties are stipulated to be subject to China law.

·        Subject to international law and multilateral treaties and federal regulations, verdicts/holdings from a China court CAN be enforced in the United States

·        Please use caution and always consult a domestic lawyer for labor/business/government compliance issues in China

What is “Illegal fundraising” in China criminal code law and binding Supreme Court interpretations? Here comes my disclaimer: this is not legal advice nor legal opinion; purely for information purposes.

There are fine lines between illegal fundraising and private placement in China law.  For all your reference, I am outlining the law below.  Please note that China is a “Code Law” legal system society and precedents do NOT have binding judicial effects to a later case.  Also China law stipulation and degree of enforcement are heavily dependent on the political and social climates.

On Jan 3, 2011, The Supreme People's Court released the Judicial Interpretations to Issues Concerning Applications of Laws for Trial of Criminal Cases on Illegal Collection of Funds.

Under the Interpretations, "where any party or individual offer, or offer in such disguised form as equity transfer the stocks or company or enterprise bonds to unspecific objects without approval of the relevant authorities, or offer, or offer in disguised form stocks or company or enterprise bonds to more than 200 individuals", such activities shall be deemed as issuing stocks or, company or enterprise bonds without due approval as stipulated by Article 179 of the Criminal Law; where the any crime is found, the relevant party or individual shall be investigated and punished as the crime of issuing stocks or, company or enterprise bonds without due approval.

The Interpretations also stipulated that where any party or individual provide advertisement services and other promotion services for the relevant parties or individuals under the precondition that the party or the individual is aware that they are engaged in issuing stocks and bonds in fraud manner, illegally raising public funds, issuing stocks or bonds without any due approval, fraud fund-raising or organizing and leading pyramid marketing, such party or individual shall be deemed as complicity of the crimes.

USCIS released new I-526 and I-829 datas

美国移民局在昨天(5/12012)的StakeHolder 会议上发布了最新的I-526及I-829的数据。

数据显示2012年截至第二季度，I-526收件2771件，批准2101件，批准率为85%。I-829收件375，批准率为96%。 应该注意的是这个数字不应简单按照时间推算，因为很多案件可能是上年递交刚得到审理。不过从移民局提供的历史数据看，从2005年到目前，I-526 的总体批准率为83%， I-829的批准率为84%.

移民局在EB5就业模式“Tenants- Occupancy"上的最新观点

近期因为个别商用楼Eb5项目的就业计算使用了“Tanants-Occupancy"的模式被移民局发了RFE，而在Eb5界引起了轩然大波，并进而使得市场方面有了很多不确定因素。今天移民局局长Mayorkas 的就有关“Tenant-Occupancy”问题和与会人员进行了讨论，移民局就此问题的观点总结如下 （感谢LUCID提供会议语言记录）：如果哪位想听原版录音，请点击这里

“First, if I can provide you with some assurances. We well understand the law, that there is no requirement to present a particular methodology in support of a petition. Rather, the law requires a “reasonable” methodology. Whether or not the tenant occupancy methodology is reasonable in proving job creation in a particular case is a fact-specific and fact-dependent inquiry. We have not changed any policy with respect to the tenant occupancy methodology, nor have we changed the applicable criteria.

首先，如果我可以提供一些保障的话。 我们（移民局处理Eb5的团队）非常了解法律。法律并没有规定一定要有一个特定的方法论来计算就业模式。法律要求有一个”合理的”方法论。 对于“租户-租占率”是否在案件中证明合理，是一个就特定事实和案件特定因素决定的（移民局的怀疑不是普世的“。移民局并没有改变审理的方法论，也没有改变法律要求。

This is, instead, what we have done. In response to the request of adjudicators and your — stakeholders’ – request – and a very appropriate request — we have hired full time economists and business analysts to improve the analysis of EB-5 petitions and the quality of our work. I should note also that we have announced or are about to announce other positions as well such as a hiring of corporate attorneys to interpret the many legal documents that petitions often include. Our new experts have reviewed cases, not previously adjudicated, that are predicated on the tenant occupancy methodology, and based on the specific facts of those cases have raised questions as to whether the evidence presented proves the required job creation, or instead merely establishes job relocation, for example. We have issued Requests for Evidence to obtain additional evidence that our experts will review and analyze.

我们已经请了全职经济学家及经济分析人士来改善我们对EB4就业模式的理解及我们审理的质量。而且我们还准备雇佣商业/公司律师就投资文件的合法性进行解释（SS 旁白：投资文件/商业文件的事情是移民局该管的吗？）我们新的专家看了很多申请，不是已经审理过的，而是目前关于”Tenant-Occupancy“计算就业的的案件，并就那些案件中的个别特殊的事实有一些疑问 - 那就是，到底这些就业条件产生了所要求的就业呢，还是仅仅建立了就业上的工作地点的重新定位。 我们发了一些RFE来就这些疑问取得更多的证据以供我们的专家来审理及分析。

A decision, as I mentioned, on the economic methodology presented in the EB-5 case, including the tenant occupancy methodology, is very fact specific. Consistent with our deference policy, we are communicating to our adjudicators that they are to accord deference to prior adjudications. Our adjudicators should rely on a previous determination that the economic methodology is reasonable when the economic methodology is presented to us in later a proceeding based on materially similar facts.
For example, if we approved a Form I-924 Regional Center Application based on a specifically-identified project, including the specific locations and industries involved, we will not revisit the determination that the economic model and underlying business plan were reasonable when adjudicating related Form I-526 petitions, Form I-485 applications, or Form I-829 petitions. If we approved an I-526 petition for an immigrant investor based on a specifically-identified project, not associated with a Regional Center, we will not revisit the determination that the business plan was reasonable when adjudicating the investor’s related I-485 or I-829 petition. If, however, the facts underlying the application of the economic methodology have materially changed, then we will conduct a fresh review of the new facts to determine whether the petitioner or applicant has complied with the requirements of the EB-5 program, including the job creation requirement”

就此就业模式的决定，是非常个别化的，并且根据案件的不同而区别的。我们已经通知我们的审理人员他们需要遵守以前的合理判例。我们的审理人员如果在发现和以前的判例有基本相似的事实条件的案件上，要按照以前批准的案例进行审理。
例如：如果我们批准了一个I-924的区域中心的申请，而当时的申请是建立在一个特定的项目，包括特定的地点和工业，而此申请已经获得批准，我们就不会在审理I526或者I829或者485 的时候再次审理已经获得批准的关于就业的模式或者商业计划。 但是，如果基于当时审理的事实有了巨大改变的话，那么当时批准审理的根基已经不存在，我们就需要对新的事实和就业计划的合理性进行新的分析， 来决定项目是否遵守了EB5法律。