Masterclass C: Wednesday, 29 June 2005

2pm - 5pm

A comprehensive guide to cross-border and hybrid REITs in Asia

Led by:
Peter Mitchell, Senior Foreign Adviser, Colin Ng & Partners
David Sandison, Tax Partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

This session will examine the various motives that can underlie a desire to launch a REIT vehicle and what other options there might be. It will also focus on the planning stages and structuring issues, particularly if a joint venture is involved.

The sometimes-divergent developments in the major REIT jurisdictions in Asia will be discussed, followed by an examination of the increasing appetite for cross-border plays and the challenges presented. The session will look at some of the cross-border options available and provide case studies.

There will also be a review of the generally tight regulatory control on REIT activities and, on the other hand, signs of increasing market interest in hybrid products incorporating REIT characteristics. A case study will be undertaken.

Workshop Agenda:

• Initial stages of the decision-making process: why launch a REIT?
• Underwriting and structuring issues
• Setting up joint ventures
• Diverse REIT environments – are cross-border plays workable?
• Snapshot of regulatory and tax environments and recent developments
• Structuring cross-border transactions
• Tax and reporting requirements
• Cross-border options – dual listings, foreign assets, pan-Asian products
• Hybrid REITs – mixed assets, stapled securities, business trusts

Your Masterclass Leaders:

Peter Mitchell
Senior Foreign Legal Adviser
Colin Ng & Partners, Singapore
Prior to joining Colin Ng & Partners in 2004, Peter was a senior partner in a major Australian law firm. He has practised in the area of property trusts (listed and unlisted) for many years. He has been involved in a number of listed property trust launches in Australia and acting for the managers of listed of and wholesale funds there on an ongoing basis.

Peter has also been involved in the establishment of a Singapore REIT and is currently involved in advising, as specialist foreign counsel, on proposed REITs in Singapore and Malaysia. He has also advised on structuring of a proposed shariah-compliant property fund in Malaysia. He is also currently working with a number of global institutional investors and foreign fund managers in relation to strategies for entering the Asian property fund market.

David Sandison
Tax Partner
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Singapore
David is a partner in the firm’s Tax and Legal Services (TLS) practice and has some twenty years of tax experience, eleven of which have been in the Singapore and South East Asian tax and business environment. He has spent most of his time dealing with international advisory work, historically across a whole spectrum of industries, including energy, communications, construction, shipping, real estate, banking and insurance. 

As a partner in the firm’s Financial Services section of TLS, he heads up the Fund Management division there. He is regularly involved in helping clients structure their venture capital, private equity and wealth management projects, and works closely with the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions, and Banking and Capital Markets teams in this regard. He has recently been involved as lead tax partner in a number of major Singapore based securitisation and credit derivatives transactions with the local banks. He also works with a number of merchant banks in devising and developing structured finance products, and is currently advising a number of property funds on their regional investments into distressed real estate projects.

Registration begins at 1.30 pm with the masterclass commencing at 2 pm and ending at 5 pm. Afternoon refreshments will be served at 3.30 pm.