Many Chinese investors establish a US corporate subsidiary, referred to as a “blocker”, to own US real estate investments directly or through partnerships. Three new provisions may impact the US taxation of blockers.

Every year, we hold several editorial advisory board meetings for the Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific editions of this publication. Several key themes seem to underlie our editorial board members’ primary concerns these days.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission published a 12 February letter to the management of Anbang Insurance Group Co, saying duties of the board and management will now be overseen — and subject to consent — by a working group of regulators from various agencies for one year.

Since the global financial crisis, property investors have sought the perceived safety of portfolio diversity and capital growth in global gateway cities, on the premise these economically-dynamic and well-connected cities would provide greater liquidity and more stable cashflows than secondary markets, according to MSCI.

After an optimistic and fundamentally-driven positive start to the year in January, interest-rate headwinds that began in the United States in January broadened globally. These headwinds rocked listed property markets in February with essentially all of January’s gains erased.