SEC Charges Unregistered Sales of Securities Issued Under EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that an Illinois-based regional center, its CEO, and 37 affiliated limited partnerships have agreed to settle charges related to securities issued under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which provides foreigners who invest in the U.S. a potential path to becoming a U.S. resident. According to the SEC’s order, from 2011 to 2015, 37 entities affiliated with CMB Export LLC offered EB-5 securities in the form of limited partnership interests without registering them with the SEC and without a valid exemption from registration. The order also found that CMB Export, at the direction of its CEO Patrick Hogan, paid transaction-based compensation to U.S. individuals and entities for soliciting foreign investors to purchase these securities.