On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff and volunteers at the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies
(CFHS), I would like to express my sincerest gratitude for your donation.

As the national voice of Humane Societies and SPCAs, the CFHS depends on the support of caring
Canadians like you. Your gift will enhance our efforts at Helping Canadians Help Animals and our work at
the national level with educators, government, media, industry and the scientific community to help
improve the lives of animals in your community.

Thank you again for helping the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies to promote compassion and
humane treatment of all animals.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Osterhout
President

Thank YOU for your most encouraging gift to the Fellowship of Christians and Jews of Canada and our crucial programs
in Israel and around the world. I am truly blessed by your generosity.

This is a strategic time for you to participate with us in this work, with grave threats to Israel and other free nations growing
on every hand. As hundreds of thousands of Jews in places like the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia face daily hardships and
growing anti-Semitism, your support for the work of The Fellowship gives many needy Jews a new lease on life.

At the same time. your participation in Isaiah 58 is helping us reach desperately needy elderly Jews and children in the
former Soviet Union-which continues to be one of our greatest humanitarian challenges.

And faithful Guardians of Israel like you are a tremendous help in making possible The Fellowship’s program of assistance
to Israel and her people. This includes both the aid we provide for them in the form of food, shelter. clothing, and other necessities,
as well as the intangible gift of solidarity.

Indeed, your contribution demonstrates once again that our Fellowship friends are special people. You are “a friend who
sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

With prayers for Shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, Chairman

Thank you for your most encouraging gift to the Fellowship of Christians and Jews of Canada and our crucial programs
in Israel and around the world. I am truly blessed by your generosity.

This is a strategic time for you to participate with us in this work, with grave threats to Israel and other free nations growing
on every hand. As hundreds of thousands of Jews in places like the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia face daily hardships and
growing anti-Semitism, your support for the work of The Fellowship gives many needy Jews a new lease on life.

At the same time, your participation in Isaiah 58 is helping us reach desperately needy elderly Jews and children in the
former Soviet Union-which continues to be one of our greatest humanitarian challenges.

And faithful Guardians of Israel like you are a tremendous help in making possible The Fellowship’s program of assistance
to Israel and her people. This includes both the aid we provide for them in the form of food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities,
as well as the intangible gift of solidarity.

Indeed, your contribution demonstrates once again that our Fellowship friends are special people. You are “a friend who
sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, Chairman

Of course, the first status residence is in Manhattan, and bankers are already starting to check out the goods in advance of their windfall. They’re putting up huge down payments, which has helped the $3 million to $5 million sector of the city’s housing market to rebound, said Pamela Liebman, CEO of New York-based brokerage firm Corcoran.

At the low end, they can score a three-bedroom, two bath condo right on Central Park or a tony address on Fifth Avenue. The more adventurous poet-at-heart bankers can tap out buying a five-story Queen Anne on the Upper West Side or head to the once-bohemian East Village for two joined buildings that boast an owner’s triplex with a stunning terrace — and income-generating apartments and businesses below.

Of course, many Wall Streeters already own their Manhattan dream homes, so they’ll spend their extra money revamping their primary residences, Pedraza said.

A makeover by a well-respected interior decorator can run at least $150,000 — but usually is more like 30% to 40% of the bonus. Think: Charlie Sheen hiring Daryl Hannah to give his new condo — and life — a high-rent makeover in the 1987 flick “Wall Street.”

Mr obama blames the Bush administration for the financial crisis but he has no real plan to get things back on track. People thought that he would become president and all the uncertainty on Wall Street would go away. What next.

“To understand how this tentative deal was reached, it’s important to remember how this all began. The Bush Administration initially asked for a blank check to respond to this problem, which I strongly opposed. It would have been unconscionable to expect the American people to hand this Administration or any Administration a $700 billion check with no conditions and no oversight when a lack of oversight in Washington and on Wall Street is exactly what got us into this mess. If the American people are being asked to pay for the solution to this crisis, their tax dollars must be protected.

“That is why over the past ten days, in conversations with the President, Secretary of Treasury and leaders of Congress, I laid out the four core principles I believed had to guide any solution: oversight by an independent board; protections for taxpayers to ensure that they are treated like investors and that they receive any profits – and recoup any losses – from this plan; measures to help homeowners stay in their homes; and rules to make sure CEOs are not being rewarded at taxpayers’ expense. While I look forward to reviewing the language of the legislation, it appears that the tentative deal embraces these principles.

“When taxpayers are asked to take such an extraordinary step because of the irresponsibility of a relative few, it is not a cause for celebration. But this step is necessary. Now Washington has to show the same sense of urgency in dealing with the crisis facing Main Street and the middle class by passing an emergency economic stimulus plan that would create jobs by rebuilding our crumbing roads; shore up flagging state budgets to prevent drastic cuts in education and health care; and extend expiring unemployment insurance benefits for those who’ve lost their jobs in this downturn and cannot find new ones.

“One final point. If elected President, I will order a thorough review of this plan to make sure that it fully lives up to the principles I’ve laid out. And I will also move quickly to upgrade our financial regulations for the 21st century, establishing new rules of the road and tougher oversight to ensure that the American taxpayers are never again forced to put their money and their futures at risk because of bad decisions in Washington and on Wall Street.”

The organizations whose names appear below span the ideological, religious and political spectrum. They nevertheless share a commitment both to the freedom of religious practice and to the separation of church and state such freedom requires. In that spirit, we offer this statement of consensus on current law as an aid to parents, educators and students.

Many of the organizations listed below are actively involved in litigation about religion in the schools. On some of the issues discussed in this summary, some of the organizations have urged the courts to reach positions different than they did. Though there are signatories on both sides which have and will press for different constitutional treatments of some of the topics discussed below, they all agree that the following is an accurate statement of what the law currently is.

Student Prayers

1. Students have the right to pray individually or in groups or to discuss their religious views with their peers so long as they are not disruptive. Because the Establishment Clause does not apply to purely private speech, students enjoy the right to read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, pray before tests, and discuss religion with other willing student listeners. In the classroom students have the right to pray quietly except when required to be actively engaged in school activities (e.g., students may not decide to pray just as a teacher calls on them). In informal settings, such as the cafeteria or in the halls, students may pray either audibly or silently, subject to the same rules of order as apply to other speech in these locations. However, the right to engage in voluntary prayer does not include, for example, the right to have a captive audience listen or to compel other students to participate.

Graduation Prayer and Baccalaureates
2. School officials may not mandate or organize prayer at graduation, nor may they organize a religious baccalaureate ceremony. If the school generally rents out its facilities to private groups, it must rent them out on the same terms, and on a first-come first-served basis, to organizers of privately sponsored religious baccalaureate services, provided that the school does not extend preferential treatment to the baccalaureate ceremony and the school disclaims official endorsement of the program.

3. The courts have reached conflicting conclusions under the federal Constitution on student-initiated prayer at graduation. Until the issue is authoritatively resolved, schools should ask their lawyers what rules apply in their area.

Official Participation or Encouragement of Religious Activity
4. Teachers and school administrators, when acting in those capacities, are representatives of the state, and, in those capacities, are themselves prohibited from encouraging or soliciting student religious or anti-religious activity. Similarly, when acting in their official capacities, teachers may not engage in religious activities with their students. However, teachers may engage in private religious activity in faculty lounges.

Teaching About Religion
5. Students may be taught about religion, but public schools may not teach religion. As the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly said, “[i]t might well be said that one’s education is not complete without a study of comparative religion, or the history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization.” It would be difficult to teach art, music, literature and most social studies without considering religious influences.

The history of religion, comparative religion, the Bible (or other scripture)-as-literature (either as a separate course or within some other existing course), are all permissible public school subjects. It is both permissible and desirable to teach objectively about the role of religion in the history of the United States and other countries. One can teach that the Pilgrims came to this country with a particular religious vision, that Catholics and others have been subject to persecution or that many of those participating in the abolitionist, women’s suffrage and civil rights movements had religious motivations.

6. These same rules apply to the recurring controversy surrounding theories of evolution. Schools may teach about explanations of life on earth, including religious ones (such as “creationism”), in comparative religion or social studies classes. In science class, however, they may present only genuinely scientific critiques of, or evidence for, any explanation of life on earth, but not religious critiques (beliefs unverifiable by scientific methodology). Schools may not refuse to teach evolutionary theory in order to avoid giving offense to religion nor may they circumvent these rules by labeling as science an article of religious faith. Public schools must not teach as scientific fact or theory any religious doctrine, including “creationism,” although any genuinely scientific evidence for or against any explanation of life may be taught. Just as they may neither advance nor inhibit any religious doctrine, teachers should not ridicule, for example, a student’s religious explanation for life on earth.

Student Assignments and Religion
7. Students may express their religious beliefs in the form of reports, homework and artwork, and such expressions are constitutionally protected. Teachers may not reject or correct such submissions simply because they include a religious symbol or address religious themes. Likewise, teachers may not require students to modify, include or excise religious views in their assignments, if germane. These assignments should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance, relevance, appearance and grammar.

8. Somewhat more problematic from a legal point of view are other public expressions of religious views in the classroom. Unfortunately for school officials, there are traps on either side of this issue, and it is possible that litigation will result no matter what course is taken. It is easier to describe the settled cases than to state clear rules of law. Schools must carefully steer between the claims of student speakers who assert a right to express themselves on religious subjects and the asserted rights of student listeners to be free of unwelcome religious persuasion in a public school classroom.

1. Religious or anti-religious remarks made in the ordinary course of classroom discussion or student presentations are permissible and constitute a protected right. If in a sex education class a student remarks that abortion should be illegal because God has prohibited it, a teacher should not silence the remark, ridicule it, rule it out of bounds or endorse it, any more than a teacher may silence a student’s religiously-based comment in favor of choice.

2. If a class assignment calls for an oral presentation on a subject of the student’s choosing, and, for example, the student responds by conducting a religious service, the school has the right — as well as the duty — to prevent itself from being used as a church. Other students are not voluntarily in attendance and cannot be forced to become an unwilling congregation.

3. Teachers may rule out-of-order religious remarks that are irrelevant to the subject at hand. In a discussion of Hamlet’s sanity, for example, a student may not interject views on creationism.

Distribution of Religious Literature
9. Students have the right to distribute religious literature to their schoolmates, subject to those reasonable time, place, and manner or other constitutionally- acceptable restrictions imposed on the distribution of all non-school literature. Thus, a school may confine distribution of all literature to a particular table at particular times. It may not single out religious literature for burdensome regulation.

10. Outsiders may not be given access to the classroom to distribute religious or anti-religious literature. No court has yet considered whether, if all other community groups are permitted to distribute literature in common areas of public schools, religious groups must be allowed to do so on equal terms subject to reasonable time, place and manner restrictions.

“See You at the Pole”
11. Student participation in before- or after-school events, such as “see you at the pole,” is permissible. School officials, acting in an official capacity, may neither discourage nor encourage participation in such an event.

Religious Persuasion Versus Religious Harassment
12. Students have the right to speak to, and attempt to persuade, their peers about religious topics just as they do with regard to political topics. But school officials should intercede to stop student religious speech if it turns into religious harassment aimed at a student or a small group of students. While it is constitutionally permissible for a student to approach another and issue an invitation to attend church, repeated invitations in the face of a request to stop constitute harassment. Where this line is to be drawn in particular cases will depend on the age of the students and other circumstances.

Equal Access Act
13. Student religious clubs in secondary schools must be permitted to meet and to have equal access to campus media to announce their meetings, if a school receives federal funds and permits any student non-curricular club to meet during non-instructional time. This is the command of the Equal Access Act. A non- curricular club is any club not related directly to a subject taught or soon-to-be taught in the school. Although schools have the right to ban all non-curriculum clubs, they may not dodge the law’s requirement by the expedient of declaring all clubs curriculum-related. On the other hand, teachers may not actively participate in club activities and “non-school persons” may not control or regularly attend club meeting.

The Act’s constitutionality has been upheld by the Supreme Court, rejecting claims that the Act violates the Establishment Clause. The Act’s requirements are described in more detail in The Equal Access Act and the Public Schools: Questions and Answers on the Equal Access Act*, a pamphlet published by a broad spectrum of religious and civil liberties groups.

Religious Holidays
14. Generally, public schools may teach about religious holidays, and may celebrate the secular aspects of the holiday and objectively teach about their religious aspects. They may not observe the holidays as religious events. Schools should generally excuse students who do not wish to participate in holiday events. Those interested in further details should see Religious Holidays in the Public Schools: Questions and Answers*, a pamphlet published by a broad spectrum of religious and civil liberties groups.

Excusal From Religiously-Objectionable Lessons
15. Schools enjoy substantial discretion to excuse individual students from lessons which are objectionable to that student or to his or her parent on the basis of religion. Schools can exercise that authority in ways which would defuse many conflicts over curriculum content. If it is proved that particular lessons substantially burden a student’s free exercise of religion and if the school cannot prove a compelling interest in requiring attendance the school would be legally required to excuse the student.

Teaching Values
16. Schools may teach civic virtues, including honesty, good citizenship, sportsmanship, courage, respect for the rights and freedoms of others, respect for persons and their property, civility, the dual virtues of moral conviction and tolerance and hard work. Subject to whatever rights of excusal exist (see 5 above) under the federal Constitution and state law, schools may teach sexual abstinence and contraception; whether and how schools teach these sensitive subjects is a matter of educational policy. However, these may not be taught as religious tenets. The mere fact that most, if not all, religions also teach these values does not make it unlawful to teach them.

Student Garb
17. Religious messages on T-shirts and the like may not be singled out for suppression. Students may wear religious attire, such as yarmulkes and head scarves, and they may not be forced to wear gym clothes that they regard, on religious grounds, as immodest.

Released Time
18. Schools have the discretion to dismiss students to off-premises religious instruction, provided that schools do not encourage or discourage participation or penalize those who do not attend. Schools may not allow religious instruction by outsiders on premises during the school day.

Tanya Hutches has been working for many years for the rights to practice religions freely in schools as well as faith based funding for school boards.

Libel and Slander in the Electronic Age on May 28 will help you recognize the danger of defamatory statements and correspondence, and the associated risks. Attend this program to learn about the elements required to assert the tort of libel or  damages available.

Lawyers acting for both residential landlords and tenants should attend the June 3 program Practice Gem- Understanding the Rights and Obligations of Residential Landlords and Tenants to learn about the latest substantive and procedural developments affecting the rights and obligations of their clients. Speakers will highlight key issues before the Landlord and Tenant Board, including the review process and multi-tenant applications.

The downturn in today’s economy presents challenges for lawyers in all areas of practice. The June 16 audio program Meeting the Challenges for Lawyers in Today’s Economy is designed to help you uncover new opportunities in the shifting marketplace. Topics include considering your options in career planning, developing your practice, transferring firms, Law Society and LAWPRO considerations and opportunities in smaller centres. And in light of the economic downturn, you may be looking to refresh your interviewing skills.

The Powerful Interviewing Skills for Legal Professionals audio program on September 15 offers practical advice and effective strategies for succeeding in professional job interviews. The Law Society offers programs in a variety of formats, including teleseminars and live webcasts. View the complete CLE Calendar on the Law Society’s website. Select e-Transactions from the home page, and then Continuing Legal Education from the menu. The calendar is updated on a regular basis to provide specific details, including program locations, speakers and topics. Online access to all papers presented at Law Society CLE programs is available through AccessCLE on the Law Society website. This resource provides users with full access to a library of CLE papers from 2004 onward, and is updated with new papers after each CLE program is held.

The outlook for the economy, notes Tanya Hutchens, has weakened since the last forecast. Consumer spending and exports will continue to contract in 2009. Ontario will face the slowest economic growth rate since the early 1990s. Kitchener CMA consumer bankruptcies are up in the last three months. Housing demand will decline due to the economic uncertainty and less household disposable income.

Employment

Due to economic conditions that continue to deteriorate, employment in Kitchener-Guelph is expected to decrease in 2009. Employment in the Kitchener and Guelph CMAs will decline by two per cent. As the labour force will continue to increase, the unemployment rate is expected to reach nine per cent in the Kitchener CMA and eight per cent in the Guelph CMA in 2009. Participation rates in the Kitchener CMA are the highest in the province, resulting in an unexpectedly high unemployment rate as more people compete for the few jobs available.
Full-time jobs will be most affected by the downturn in employment and, it is full-time employment that drives housing demand. On a more positive note in the Kitchener CMA, RIM is expected to hire 3,000 more employees in 2009, while OpenText has job openings for more than 200.
The goods sector will continue to contract because of the manufacturing sector and an export market which will see negative growth this year. The manufacturing sector has been contracting for the last four years and with turmoil in the automotive sector, the job shedding will continue. Guelph has sustained a harder hit from the downturn in the automotive sector than has Kitchener. Guelph manufacturing, as a percentage of total employment, has dropped from 26 per cent in the first quarter of 2008, to 20 per cent in the same period of 2009. In both CMAs, while the services sector has been supporting employment growth, lower consumer spending will weaken growth in this sector through 2009.
Older employees will be hard hit by the downturn in the economy, impacting move-up buyer demand. Some older employees will be forced into early retirement as companies downsize to trim overhead costs and to remain viable. Many of these employees will remain in the labour force. On the other hand, youth employment will fluctuate near current levels, benefiting the rental market.

Average Weekly Earnings

A rising jobless rate, less inflationary pressures and the decline in some higher paying jobs will dampen wage growth this year. Wage growth in the Kitchener CMA is expected to be near two per cent in 2009, while Guelph CMA earnings are forecast to increase by one per cent. The lower level of wage growth in 2009 will be a small contributing factor to the decline in housing demand. A plus for the rental market is the increase in the minimum wage in Ontario by eight per cent in March, enabling some people to form households.

Migration

Net migration is forecast to be 2,500 in 2009 in the Kitchener CMA and 900 in the Guelph CMA. Although slowing, inter-provincial migration to the west continues, resulting in lower net migration. Employment is a strong driver of migration to the Kitchener CMA. Kitchener has the second highest employment rate in Ontario and continues to attract households to the area. International migration is the driving force behind any migration growth in the CMAs, but does little to increase immediate ownership demand, as renting is the most prevalent tenure choice among those new to Canada.

Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates are expected to be relatively stable throughout 2009, remaining within 25-75 basis points of their current levels. Posted mortgage rates will increase very gradually during the course of 2010, reflecting a rise in government of Canada bond yields. For 2010, the one year posted mortgage rate will be in the 4.75-6.00 per cent range, while three and five year posted mortgage rates are forecast to be in the 5.00-6.75 per cent range.

“The decline in housing starts in 2009 can be attributed to several factors, including the current economic climate, increased competition from the existing home market, and the impact of strong house price growth between 2002 and 2007” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist for CMHC. “However, housing market activity will begin to strengthen in 2010 as the Canadian economy recovers, bringing housing starts more in line with demographic fundamentals over the forecast period”.

Existing home sales, as measured by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), are expected to decline to 357,800 units in 2009 from 433,990 in 2008, but increase to 386,100 units in 2010. The average MLS price is also expected to decrease to $283,100 in 2009 and to stabilize in 2010.

As Canada’s national housing agency, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable, and affordable homes — homes that will continue to create vibrant and healthy communities and cities across the country.

Now a bit Longer:

A Real Estate Investment Trust or REIT  is a tax designation for a corporation investing in real estate that reduces or eliminates corporate income taxes. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their income, which may be taxable, into the hands of the investors. The REIT structure was designed to provide a similar structure for investment in real estate as mutual funds provide for investment in stocks.

Like other corporations, REITs can be publicly or privately held. Public REITs may be listed on public stock exchanges like shares of common stock in other firms. REITs can be classified as equity, mortgage or hybrid. After originating in the United States in 1960, they were adopted in many other countries in variety of forms here are some:

Australia

After originating in the United States in 1960, the REIT concept was launched in Australia in 1971. General Property Trust was the first Listed Property Trust (LPT) on the Australian stock exchanges (now the Australian Securities Exchange). REITs which are listed on an exchange were known as Listed Property Trusts (LPTs) until March 2008, distinguishing them from private REITs which are known in Australia as Unlisted Property Trusts. They have since been renamed Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A-REITs) in line with international practice.

There are now more than 60 A-REITs listed on the ASX, with market capitalisation in excess of A$100bn.

Australia is also receiving growing recognition as having the world’s largest REITs market outside the United States. More than 12 percent of global listed property trusts can be found on the ASX.

Brazil

REITS were introduced in Brazil in 1993 by the law 8668/93 and ruled by the instruction 205/94 from CVM (Comissao de Valores Mobiliários – which is the Brazilian equivalent of SEC). Locally they are denominated FIIs or “Fundos de Investimento Imobiliário”. FII’s dividends are free of taxes for personal investors (not companies) since 2006, but only for the funds which distribute at least 95% of their income and that are publicly negotiated in the stock market.

Bulgaria

REITS were introduced in Bulgaria in 2004 with the so called “Special Purpose Investment Companies Act”. They are pass-through entities for corporate income tax purposes (i.e. they are not subject to corporate income tax), but are subject to numerous restrictions.

Canada

Canadian REITs were established in 1993. They are required to be configured as trusts and are not taxed if they distribute their net taxable income to shareholders. REITs have been excluded from the income trust tax legislation proposed in the 2007 budget by the Conservative government. Many Canadian REITs have limited liability.

Germany

Germany is also planning to introduce German REITs (short, G-REITs) in order to create a new type of real estate investment vehicle. Government fears that failing to introduce REITs in Germany would result in a significant loss of investment capital to other countries. Nonetheless there still is political resistance to these plans, especially by the social democratic party (‘SPD’). As of June 2006 the ministry of finance has announced that they still plan to introduce G-REITs in 2007. The legal details seem to adopt much of UK-REITs regulations (taxation, public listing, etc.), as far as it is possible to tell yet.

A law concerning G-REITs was enacted 1 June, 2007, and is retroactive to 1 January, 2007.

Qualification

• REITs will have to be established as a corporation “REIT-AG” or “REIT-Aktiengesellschaft“.
• At least 75% of its assets have to be invested in real-estate.
• At least 75% of the G-REIT’s gross revenues must be real-estate related.
• At least 90% of the REIT’s taxable income has to be distributed to its shareholders through dividends.
• The corporation is income-tax-exempt, but the shareholders will have to pay individual income tax on the dividends.

Hong Kong

REITs have been in existence in Hong Kong since 2005, when The Link REIT was launched by the Hong Kong Housing Authority on behalf of the Government. Since 2005, there have been 7 REIT listings as at July 2007, most of which, including Sunlight REIT have not enjoyed success due to low yield. Except for The Link and Regal Real Estate Investment Trust, share prices of all but one are significantly belowIPO price. Hong Kong issuers’ use of financial engineering (interest rate swaps) to improve initial yields has also been cited as having deterred investors’ interest

India

India is currently in the process of formulating definitive legislation for the introduction and smooth functioning of REITs in the Indian real estate market. Once introduced these Indian REITs (country specific/generic version I-REITs) will help individual investors enjoy the benefits of owning an interest in the securitised real estate market. The best benefit being that of fast and easy liquidation of investments in the real estate market unlike the traditional way of disposing real estate. The government and Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI through various notifications is in the process of easing the norms of investing in real estate in India directly and indirectly through foreign direct investment, through listed real estate companies, mutual funds etc. With the current real estate boom and the market being flooded withInitial Public Offer of various listed real estate companies in India it will be the best time for investors to own a share of the profiting market economy. Legislative framework, revised investment norms, a favourable investment opportunity, and a clear taxation policy will provide the right kind of investing opportunity in India in the time to come.

Japan

Japan is one of a handful of countries in Asia with REIT legislation (other countries/markets include Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Korea), which permitted their establishment in December 2001. J-REIT securities are traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and most participants are Japanese conglomerates and foreign investment banks.

Since the burst of the real estate bubble in 1990, property prices in Japan have seen steady drops through 2004, with some signs of price stabilization and possibly price increase in 2005 and 2006. Some see J-REITs as a way to increase investment in the real estate market, although notable increases in asset values has not yet been realized.

A J-REIT may be structured as an independent corporation or as a contractual relationship through a trust bank.

In addition to REITs, Japanese law also provides for a parallel system of special purpose companies which can be used for the securitization of particular properties, but not for the maintenance of a real estate portfolio.

Pakistan REITs

Pakistan’s regulatory body Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan is in process of implementing REIT regulatory framework that will allow full foreign ownership, free movement of capital and unrestricted repatriation of profits. It will curb speculation in Pakistani real estate markets and gives access to small investors diversifying into real estate as well. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan following regulatory framework similar to Singapore and Hong Kong REITs.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan expects that about six REITs will be licensed within the first year, mainly large assets management companies applying for it. Pakistan is recently seeing a outflux of investments by foreign real estate development mostly Malaysian and Dubai based companies.

Singapore

Commonly referred to as S-REITs. There are currently 20 REITs listed on the SGX, starting with CapitaMall Trust in July 2002. They represent a range of property sectors including retail, office, industrial, hospitality and residential. S-REITs hold a variety of properties in countries including Japan, China, Indonesia and Hong Kong, in addition to local properties.

S-REITs are regulated as Collective Investment Schemes under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Code on Collective Investment Schemes, or alternatively as Business Trusts.

S-REITs benefit from tax advantaged status.

United Kingdom

The legislation laying out the rules for REITs in the United Kingdom was enacted in the Finance Act 2006 and came into effect in January 2007 when nine UK property companies converted to REIT status, including the five that were FTSE 100 members at that time: British Land, Hammerson, Land Securities, Liberty International and Slough Estates (now known as “SEGRO”). The other four were: Brixton, Great Portland Estates, Primary Health and Workspace Group.

British REITS have to distribute 90% of their income. They must be a close-ended investment trust and be UK resident and publicly listed on a stock exchange recognised by the Financial Services Authority.

To support the introduction of REITs in the UK, the REITs and Quoted Property Group was created by several commercial property and financial services companies. Other key bodies involved are the London Stock Exchange the British Property Federation and Reita. The Reita campaign was launched on 16 August 2006 by the REITs and Quoted Property Group, in order to provide a source of information on REITs, quoted property and related investments funds. Reita’s aim is to raise awareness and understanding of REITs and investment in quoted property companies. It does this primarily through its portalwww.reita.org, providing knowledge, education and tools for financial advisers and investors.

Doug Naismith, managing director of European Personal Investments for Fidelity International, said: “As existing markets expand and REIT like structures are introduced in more countries, we expect to see the overall market grow by some ten percent per annum over the next five years, taking the market to $1 trillion by 2010.”

United States

A real estate investment trust, or REIT, is a company that owns, and in most cases, operates income-producing real estate. Some REITs finance real estate. To be a REIT, a company must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to shareholders annually in the form of dividends.

Qualification

In order to qualify for the advantages of being a pass-through entity for U.S. corporate income tax, a REIT must:

• Be structured as corporation, trust, or association
• Be managed by a board of directors or trustees
• Have transferable shares or transferable certificates of interest
• Otherwise be taxable as a domestic corporation
• Not be a financial institution or an insurance company
• Be jointly owned by 100 persons or more
• Have 95 percent of its income derived from dividends, interest, and property income
• Pay dividends of at least 90% of the REIT’s taxable income
• No more than 50% of the shares can be held by five or fewer individuals during the last half of each taxable year (5/50 rule)
• At least 75% of total investment assets must be in real estate
• Derive at least 75% of gross income from rents or mortgage interest
• No more than 20% of its assets may consist of stocks in taxable REIT subsidiaries.

This Explanation was brought to you by Tanya Hutchens. Hey I worked hard , at least leave a comment of appreciation.