Author: admin

Kate Courtis, senior vice president, taxation at GGP Inc. (NYSE: GGP), participated in a video interview at REITwise 2018, Nareit’s Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in Hollywood, Florida.

Courtis said that implementing the changes brought about by the recent tax reform has highlighted the many ambiguities and unanswered questions related to partnership issues, such as the qualified business deduction and the new three-year carried interest provision.

Scott Winer, senior vice president, tax at Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PK), participated in a video interview at REITwise 2018, Nareit’s Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in Hollywood, Florida.

Deborah Marson, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary at Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE: IRM), participated in a video interview at REITwise 2018, Nareit’s Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in Hollywood, Florida.

Bartjan Zoetmulder, partner at Loyens & Loeff, participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITwise: 2018 Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in Hollywood, Florida.

Bartjan expects that overall, REITs in the United States that are investing abroad are likely to see a higher tax bill resulting from the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) framework. This will come about as REITs deal with factors such as fewer interest deduction possibilities on their European tax base and more withholding taxes on payments going back to the U.S.

Ross Prindle, managing director and global head of the real estate advisory group at Duff & Phelps, participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITwise: 2018 Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in Hollywood, Florida.

Prindle discussed phase three of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) project to improve the accounting for asset acquisitions and business combinations. He explained that prior to FASB’s new definition of a business, acquisitions were treated as business combinations and REITs had to expense their transaction costs.

Ron Bohlert, managing director, global corporate client group at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), participated in a video interview at REITwise 2018, Nareit’s Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in Hollywood, Florida.

Bohlert commented on initial public offering (IPO) activity in 2017. He noted that overall, 88 IPOs raised about $31.3 billion. The REIT industry, while relatively flat throughout the course of the year, still saw 9 IPOs raising about $2.8 billion, he noted.

Mike McTiernan, partner at Hogan Lovells, participated in a video interview at REITwise 2018, Nareit’s Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in Hollywood, Florida.

McTiernan has handled REIT Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issues both as a capital markets regulator and in the private sector. He noted that his focus in private practice is based on just a narrow client perspective. With the SEC, the focus was broader, and he had to be attuned to how his input impacted all public companies.

Keith Townsend, partner at King & Spaulding, participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITwise: 2018 Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in Hollywood, Florida.

Townsend has seen a significant rise in shareholder activism in the REIT sector in recent years. “REITs are no longer impervious and they are going to have to be ready with their advisors for these campaigns to occur,” Townsend said.