Investment Company Act of 1940 — Section 3(c)(5)(C )
Capital Trust, Inc

February 3, 2009

In your letter, dated January 29, 2009, you request that we concur with your view that certain subordinate participations in commercial real estate first mortgage loans, as described below, that are held by Capital Trust, Inc., a public company incorporated in the state of Maryland that has elected treatment as a real estate investment trust for federal tax law purposes (the "Company"), would be considered qualifying interests, as defined below, for purposes of the exclusion from the definition of investment company in Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("Act").

Facts

You state that the Company engages primarily in commercial real estate financing by originating and purchasing commercial real estate debt and related instruments for its own accounts as well as the accounts of investment vehicles that the Company manages. You state that among the types of investments the Company makes are investments in A/B commercial mortgage loan financing arrangements ("A/B financings"). You explain that in an A/B financing, the principal balance of a single commercial mortgage loan is divided between two or more mortgage lenders as a means of spreading the credit risk associated with the mortgage loan between the lenders. You state that unlike a mortgage loan participation where each loan participant has a pari passu interest in the mortgage loan, an A/B financing is a senior/subordinated structure. The senior participation, called the "A-Note," has priority over the junior participation, called the "B-Note," with respect to the allocation of payments made on the mortgage loan.¹ You explain that all periodic payments made by the borrower on the underlying mortgage loan are allocated first to the A-Note holder, as senior lender, in accordance with the terms of the A/B financing and then to the B-Note holder, as junior lender. Similarly, you explain that in the event of a default on the mortgage loan, all collections or recoveries on the loan are allocated first to the A-Note holder until the A-Note holder has been fully paid before any payments are made to the B-Note holder. You further state that any losses incurred with respect to the loan are allocated first to the B-Note holder and then to the A-Note holder. You state that the loan is fully secured by a mortgage on the underlying commercial property and the value of the underlying commercial property at the time of the A/B financing always exceeds the combined principal balance of the B-Note and the A-Note.

You state that in the typical A/B financing in which the Company invests, a lender enters into a mortgage arrangement with a borrower and then participates the mortgage loan to form an A/B financing structure. The lender, who holds legal title to the mortgage loan and is listed as the lender of record, retains the A-Note but sells the B-Note to the Company. You state that the Company as B-Note holder obtains the right to receive from the A-Note holder the Company's proportionate share of the interest and the principal payments made on the mortgage loan by the borrower at the time such payments are made, and the Company's returns on its B-Note investment are based on the principal and interest payments made by the borrower.

You state that in some A/B financings, the B-Note holder's participation interest is evidenced by a separate note issued by the borrower to the B-Note holder and which is directly secured by the mortgage.² You explain that in these types of A/B financings, the Company as B-Note holder is in contractual privity with the borrower with respect to the underlying mortgage loan and thus payment on the B-Note should not be affected in the event of the bankruptcy of the A-Note holder.³ You state that in other A/B financings in which the Company invests, the B-Note holder holds a participating beneficial ownership interest in the mortgage loan and mortgage loan proceeds. The participation interest, however, is not evidenced by a separate note from the borrower and thus the Company as B-Note holder is not in contractual privity with the borrower.⁴ You note that the Company arguably could have difficulty obtaining payment in the event that the A-Note holder files for bankruptcy.⁵ You state that, with the exception of the bankruptcy issue, the two types of A/B financings are similar in all other material respects.

You state that the Company as B-Note holder enters into an agreement with the A-Note holder that sets forth the rights and obligations of the parties ("Agreement"). You explain that under the Agreement, the A-Note holder is afforded the sole and exclusive authority to administer and service the mortgage loan so long as the mortgage loan is a performing loan. The Agreement, however, provides the Company as B-Note holder with approval rights with respect to any decisions relating to material modifications to the loan agreements, or in connection with any material decisions pertaining to the administration and servicing of the mortgage loan.

You state that the Agreement also grants the Company as B-Note holder the right to control the administration and servicing of the loan in the event that the loan becomes a non-performing loan ("control rights").⁶ You state that these control rights include the right to appoint a special servicer to manage the resolution of the non-performing loan, including any proposed foreclosure or workout of the loan.⁷ You state that the Company generally will have the right to advise, direct, or approve certain actions to be taken by the special servicer, including those with respect to any modification or forgiveness of principal or interest in connection with the defaulted loan, any proposed foreclosure of the mortgage loan or acquisition of the underlying property by deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or any proposed sale of a defaulted mortgage loan. You state that the special servicer is generally obligated to follow the Company's decisions unless the special servicer believes that doing so would violate any applicable law or provisions of any agreement applicable to the financing arrangement. In addition, you state that the special servicer is subject to the limitations prescribed by a "servicing standard," which requires the special servicer to act in the best interests of both the A-Note holder and the Company as B-Note holder and in a commercially reasonable manner. The Company, however, for any reason has the right to terminate and replace the special servicer.

You also state that the Company as B-Note holder has the right to receive written notice with respect to the performance of the mortgage loan and all reasonably requested information in connection with the exercise of the B-Note holder's rights. You further state that the Company also has the right to cure any monetary and non-monetary defaults on the mortgage loan. Finally, you state that the Company may purchase the A-Note at a price of par plus interest in the event that the loan becomes non-performing.

Analysis

Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Act

Section 3(a)(1) of the Act, in relevant part, defines an investment company as any issuer that is, or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities; or is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire "investment securities" having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of Government securities and cash) on an unconsolidated basis.⁸ Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Act, in relevant part, provides an exclusion from the definition of investment company for any issuer that is "primarily engaged in … purchasing or otherwise acquiring mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate." We previously have taken the position that an issuer may not rely on the exclusion provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) unless at least 55% of its assets consist of "mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate" (called "qualifying interests") and the remaining 45% of its assets consist primarily of real estate-type interests.⁹ To meet the 45% real estate-type interests test, an issuer must invest at least 25% of its total assets in real estate-type interests (subject to reduction to the extent that the issuer invests more than 55% of its total assets in qualifying interests) and may invest no more than 20% of its total assets in miscellaneous investments.¹⁰

We generally take the position that a qualifying interest is an asset that represents an actual interest in real estate or is a loan or lien fully secured by real estate. Thus, for example, we have not objected if an issuer treats as qualifying interests, among other things, fee interests in real estate,¹¹ mortgage loans fully secured by real property,¹² notes secured by a pool of whole mortgage loans,¹³ second mortgages secured by real property,¹⁴ and leasehold interests secured solely by real property.¹⁵ We also take the position that an asset that can be viewed as being the functional equivalent of, and provide its holder with the same economic experience as, a direct investment in real estate or in a loan or lien fully secured by real estate, may be considered to be a qualifying interest for purposes of Section 3(c)(5)(C).¹⁶

We take the position, however, that an asset is not a qualifying interest for purposes of Section 3(c)(5)(C) if it is an interest in the nature of a security in another person engaged in the real estate business.¹⁷ For this reason, we generally take the position that an issuer that is engaged primarily in purchasing or otherwise acquiring participations or fractionalized interests in individual or pooled mortgages or deeds of trust is not entitled to rely on Section 3(c)(5)(C).¹⁸ We have, however, taken the position that an issuer that holds mortgage participation interests may nevertheless rely on Section 3(c)(5)(C) if the mortgage participation interests have attributes that would classify them as being interests in real estate rather than as being interests in the nature of a security in another person engaged in the real estate business. For example, in several instances we have taken the position that a trust that held participation interests in construction period mortgage loans acquired from mortgage lenders may rely on Section 3(c)(5)(C).¹⁹ We explained that each mortgage participation interest held by the trust was an interest in real estate because the participation interest was in a mortgage loan that was fully secured by real property and the trustee had the right by itself to foreclose on the mortgage securing the loan in the event of default.²⁰

B-Notes as Qualifying Interests

You argue that the B-Notes that you describe in your letter should be considered to be qualifying interests for purposes of Section 3(c)(5)(C). You argue that each B-Note has attributes that, when taken together, would allow it to be classified as an interest in real estate rather than an interest in the nature of a security issued by a person that is engaged in the real estate business (i.e., the A-Note holder), notwithstanding that the B-Note holder does not have the right by itself to foreclose on the mortgage loan, which was a condition to the granting of relief in prior letters.²¹

In support of your position, you argue first that a B-Note is a participation interest in a mortgage loan that is fully secured by real property, and is not a loan extended to the A-Note holder. You state that the B-Note is not an interest in the A-Note holder with payment depending on the profits generated by the A-Note holder's operations. Rather, you explain that payment on the B-Note is based on the interest and principal payments made by the borrower on the underlying mortgage loan.²² As such, you state that the Company invests in a B-Note only after performing the same type of due diligence and credit underwriting procedures that it would perform if it were underwriting the entire mortgage loan.²³ You state that the A-Note holder does not guarantee payment of the B-Note holder's share of interest and principal payments received from the borrower on the underlying mortgage loan.²⁴ Accordingly, you argue that the B-Note holder looks to the borrower for payment on its B-Note and not to the A-Note holder.

You also state that the Company as B-Note holder has rights with respect to the administration and servicing of the mortgage loan that further suggest that the B-Note is an interest in real estate. Although the A-Note holder has the exclusive authority to administer and service the mortgage loan as long as the loan is a performing loan, you represent that the Company as B-Note holder has approval rights in connection with any material decisions pertaining to the administration and servicing of the loan, including decisions relating to leasing and budget requests from the borrower. You also represent that the B-Note holder has approval rights with respect to any material modification to the loan agreements.

Finally, you argue that that the Company as B-Note holder has effective control over the remedies relating to the enforcement of the mortgage loan, including ultimate control of the foreclosure process, in the event that the loan becomes non-performing. You state that the Company has such rights notwithstanding the fact that the Company does not have the unilateral right to foreclose on the mortgage loan, or that the special servicer is required to act in the best interests of both the A-Note holder and the B-Note holder under the special servicing standard. In particular, you represent that the Company as B-Note holder has the right to select the special servicer, and often appoints its wholly owned subsidiary to act in that role. You state that in the event that the mortgage loan becomes non-performing, the Company is able to pursue the remedies it desires by advising, directing or approving the actions of the special servicer. If the Company is dissatisfied with the remedy selected by the special servicer, you represent that the Company may: (1) terminate and replace the special servicer at any time with or without cause; (2) cure the default so that the mortgage loan is no longer non-performing; or (3) purchase the A-Note at par plus accrued interest, thereby acquiring the entire mortgage loan.

Conclusion

Based on the facts and representations in your letter, we agree that the B-Notes which you describe in your letter are interests in real estate and not interests in the nature of a security in another person engaged in the real estate business.²⁵ In taking this position we note in particular your representations that: (1) a B-Note is a participation interest in a mortgage loan that is fully secured by real property; (2) the Company as B-Note holder has the right to receive its proportionate share of the interest and the principal payments made on the mortgage loan by the borrower, and that the Company's returns on the B-Note are based on such payments;²⁶ (3) the Company invests in B-Notes only after performing the same type of due diligence and credit underwriting procedures that it would perform if it were underwriting the underlying mortgage loan; (4) the Company as B-Note holder has approval rights in connection with any material decisions pertaining to the administration and servicing of the loan and with respect to any material modification to the loan agreements; and (5) in the event that the loan becomes non-performing, the Company as B-Note holder has effective control over the remedies relating to the enforcement of the mortgage loan, including ultimate control of the foreclosure process, by having the right to: (a) appoint the special servicer to manage the resolution of the loan; (b) advise, direct or approve the actions of the special servicer; (c) terminate the special servicer at any time with or without cause; (d) cure the default so that the mortgage loan is no longer non-performing; and (e) purchase the A-Note at par plus accrued interest, thereby acquiring the entire mortgage loan.²⁷

We therefore concur with your view that the B-Notes described in your letter may be considered qualifying interests for purposes of the exclusion from the definition of investment company provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C). Please note that our views are based upon the facts and representations contained in your letter and that any different facts or representations may require a different conclusion.

Rochelle Kauffman Plesset
Senior Counsel

Endnotes

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¹ You state that when a commercial mortgage loan is divided into more than two participations, the participation may be designated as an A-Note, a B-1 Note, a B-2 Note, a B-3 Note, etc. For purposes of this letter, in cases in which there are more than two participations, the term "B-Note" is used to refer to the most junior participation.

² You explain, however, that the B-Note is different from a second mortgage loan because the B-Note represents a participation interest in a single mortgage loan, whereas a second mortgage loan represents the issuance and administration of a separate loan. You also explain that the separate note issued by the borrower evidences a participation in a mortgage loan and not an interest in a whole, unparticipated mortgage loan held by a single mortgagee.

³ You explain that since a B-Note evidenced by a separate note is an actual note conveying to the B-Note holder a portion of the mortgage that is secured by the recorded mortgage, the B-Note holder's right to receive its share of the interest and principal payments made by the borrower on the underlying mortgage loan should not be part of the A-Note holder's estate in the event that the A-Note holder becomes bankrupt.

⁴ You state that in these cases the original lending transaction already may have been structured as a single note mortgage financing at the time the Company is given the opportunity to acquire a participating interest in the mortgage loan. You explain that it would be difficult to later provide for the issuance of two separate notes because it would require that the borrower and the mortgage lender modify the documentation of the original lending transaction.

⁵ You suggest that in the event of the A-Note holder's bankruptcy, the status of the B-Note holder is unclear under the United States Bankruptcy Code if the B-Note holder does not hold a separate note. You explain that it is possible that in such an event, the B-Note holder could be treated as an unsecured creditor of the A-Note holder, notwithstanding your view that the B-Note holder is holding a participation interest in a mortgage loan and not a loan from the A-Note holder. See infra notes 22, 24.

⁶ You state that the B-Note holder may exercise its control rights under the terms of the Agreement either directly or indirectly by appointing a third party (called an operating advisor) to administer its rights. You also state that generally the B-Note holder retains these control rights only so long as its position in the mortgage loan is deemed to have "value," based upon an appraisal. You state that the B-Note has "value," for this purpose, if the initial principal amount of the B-Note (adjusted for prepayments, debt write-downs and appraisal reduction amounts applied to the B-Note) exceeds 25% of the initial principal amount of the B-Note (adjusted for prepayments). You state that an "appraisal reduction amount," for this purpose, generally is the amount by which the full outstanding mortgage indebtedness exceeds 90% of the appraised value of the underlying real property. If the appraisal indicates that the B-Note does not have "value," the B-Note holder's control rights are forfeited to the A-Note holder.

⁷ You state that the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, CT Investment Management Co., often serves as special servicer for many of the Company's real estate debt financing investments.

⁸ Section 3(a)(2) defines "investment securities" to include all securities except (A) Government securities, (B) securities issued by employees' securities companies, and (C) securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exclusion from the definition of investment company under Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the Act.

⁹ See, e.g., Citytrust, SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Dec. 19, 1990); Greenwich Capital Acceptance Inc., SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Aug. 8, 1991).

¹⁰ See, e.g., id.

¹¹ See, e.g., United Bankers, SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Mar. 23, 1988).

¹² See, e.g., United States Property Investment N.V., SEC Staff No-Action Letter (May 1, 1989).

¹³ See, e.g., Premier Mortgage Corp., SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Mar. 14, 1983).

¹⁴ See, e.g., Prudential Mortgage Bankers & Investment Corp., SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Dec. 4, 1977); The State Street Mortgage Co., SEC Staff No-Action Letter (July 17, 1986).

¹⁵ See, e.g., Health Facility Credit Corp., SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Feb. 6, 1985).

¹⁶ See Capital Trust Inc., SEC Staff No-Action Letter (May 24, 2007) (a Tier 1 mezzanine loan under certain conditions may be considered to be a qualifying interest where the loan can be viewed as being the functional equivalent of, and provide its holder with the same economic experience as, a second mortgage which is a qualifying interest for purposes of Section 3(c)(5)(C)).

¹⁷ See, e.g., The Realex Capital, SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Mar. 19, 1984) (Section 3(c)(5)(C) is not available to an issuer that invests solely in limited partnership interests in an underlying limited partnership that would own and operate a building).

¹⁸ MGIC Mortgage Corp., SEC Staff No-Action Letters (Oct. 6, 1972 and Aug. 1, 1974).

¹⁹ See Northwestern Ohio Building and Construction Trades Foundation, SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Apr. 20, 1984); Baton Rouge Building and Construction Industry Foundation, SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Aug. 31, 1984); Dayton Area Building and Construction, SEC Staff No-Action Letter (May 7, 1987).

²⁰ Id. We have also granted no-action relief to an issuer that acquired whole mortgage loans or pools of whole mortgage loans and then sold participation interests in such assets. Relief was conditioned on the issuer retaining a continuing percentage ownership interest of at least 10% in each of the whole mortgage loans or pools of mortgage loans which it had fractionalized; the issuer alone was the formal record owner; and the issuer throughout the life of the participation had complete supervisory responsibility with respect to the servicing of the mortgage loans and had sole discretion regarding the enforcement of collections and the institution and prosecution of foreclosure or similar proceedings in the event of default. We stated that these conditions were intended to ensure that the issuer would "have a substantial continuing ownership interest in … [the underlying whole mortgages and pools of such mortgages] and [the] unrestricted control over the enforcement of the lien and other matters with respect to such mortgage loans so that the interest retained by the [issuer] would be an interest in real estate within the meaning of Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Act rather than an interest in the nature of a security in another person engaged in the real estate business." MGIC Mortgage Corp., SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Aug. 1, 1974).

²¹ See, e.g., id.

²² You suggest, however, that in the event that the A-Note holder becomes bankrupt and the B-Note holder is treated as an unsecured creditor of the A-Note holder, the B-Note holder may not receive its full payment on the B-Note notwithstanding the fact that the borrower has been making full and timely payments on the underlying mortgage loan. See supra note 5. You state that in the event that this will occur, the B-Note will no longer be considered an interest in real estate and thus will no longer be treated as a qualifying interest for purposes of Section 3(c)(5)(C).

²³ You explain that, like the procedures for investing in whole mortgages, the procedures that the Company performs prior to investing in B-Notes include hands-on analysis of the underlying collateral for the loan, market analysis, tenant analysis, financial analysis, visits to the property, borrower background checks, and lease and contract review. You also note that the Company performs its own independent analysis and does not rely on the A-Note holder's analysis or conclusion on the creditworthiness of the mortgage loan borrower.

²⁴ In addition, you state that the following additional factors indicate that the B-Note is a mortgage loan participation interest and not a loan extended to the A-Note holder: (1) there is no difference in term to maturity contained in the B-Note and the underlying mortgage loan; (2) the total payments made by the borrower on the underlying mortgage loan do not exceed the aggregate payments made on the A-Note and the B-Note; and (3) there is no difference in scheduled payment terms between the borrower and the A-Note holder, and between the A-Note holder and the Company, except for the priority in the allocation of interest and principal payments granted to the A-Note holder by virtue of its position as senior participant. Furthermore, you state that, although there is a difference in the interest rate due on the underlying mortgage loan and the B-Note, the difference is due to the legitimate risk premium that the B-Note holder receives on assuming first loss. You state that your view that the B-Notes described in your letter are true participations and not loans extended to the A-Note holder is based on an evaluation of the factors that the courts have considered in similar cases. See, e.g., In re Churchill Mortgage Investment Corp., 233 B.R. 61 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 1999); In re Sprint Mortgage Bankers Corp., 164 B.R. 224 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. 1994).

²⁵ You have not asked for, and we are not expressing, a view on whether an A-Note, as you describe in your letter, is a qualifying interest for purposes of Section 3(c)(5)(C) notwithstanding the fact that, as you represent, the B-Note holder has effective control over the remedies relating to the enforcement of the mortgage loan, including ultimate control of the foreclosure process, in the event that the loan becomes non-performing.

²⁶ See supra note 22.

²⁷ As indicated above, while the right to foreclose is an important attribute to consider when determining whether an asset should be considered a qualifying interest, we believe that, in addition to this attribute, other attributes of an asset need also be considered when making such a determination. We note, however, that at this time we are not withdrawing any previous no-action positions that have not addressed this point.

Incoming Letter

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The Incoming Letter is in Acrobat format.