BREIT 2017 Annual Report

35 We will face risks associated with short sales. Our use of short sales for investment and/or risk management purposes subjects us to risks associated with selling short. We may engage in short sales where we do not own or have the right to acquire the security sold short at no additional cost. Our loss on a short sale theoretically could be unlimited in a case where we are unable, for whatever reason, to close out a short position. Our short selling strategies may limit our ability to benefit from increases in the markets. Short selling also involves a form of financial leverage that may exaggerate any losses. Also, there is the risk that the counterparty to a short sale may fail to honor its contractual terms, causing a loss to us. Finally, SEC, FINRA or other regulations relating to short selling may restrict our ability to engage in short selling. We may make open market purchases or invest in publicly traded securities. Although not anticipated to be a meaningful component of our investment strategy, we have the ability to invest in securities that are publicly traded and are, therefore, subject to the risks inherent in investing in public securities. When investing in public securities, we may be unable to obtain financial covenants or other contractual rights, including management rights that it might otherwise be able to obtain in making privately negotiated investments. Moreover, we may not have the same access to information in connection with investments in public securities, either when investigating a potential investment or after making an investment, as compared to privately negotiated investments. Furthermore, we may be limited in our ability to make investments, and to sell existing investments, in public securities because Blackstone may be deemed to have material, non-public information regarding the issuers of those securities or as a result of other internal policies. The inability to sell public securities in these circumstances could materially adversely affect the investment results. In addition, an investment may be sold by us to a public company where the consideration received is a combination of cash and stock of the public company, which may, depending on the securities laws of the relevant jurisdiction, be subject to lock-up periods. We may incur contingent liabilities in connection with the disposition of investments. In connection with the disposition of an investment, we may be required to make certain representations about the business, financial affairs and other aspects (such as environmental, property, tax, insurance, and litigation) of such investment typical of those made in connection with the sale of a business or other investment comparable to the investment being sold. We may also be required to indemnify the purchasers of such investment to the extent that any such representations are inaccurate or with respect to certain potential liabilities. These arrangements may result in the incurrence of contingent liabilities for which the Adviser may establish reserves or escrow accounts. Political changes may affect the real estate-related securities markets. The current regulatory environment in the United States may be impacted by future legislative developments, such as amendments to key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. On February 3, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the administration to review U.S. financial laws and regulations in order to determine their consistency with a set of core principles identified in the order. The full scope of President Trump’s legislative agenda is not yet fully known, but it may include certain deregulatory measures for the U.S. financial services industry, including changes to Financial Stability Oversight Council, the Volcker Rule and credit risk retention requirements, among other areas. In particular, on June 8, 2017, one pending bill, called the Financial CHOICE Act, or the CHOICE Act, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. If passed by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President Trump, the CHOICE Act would, among other things, remove risk retention requirements for non-residential mortgage securitizations. The outcome of the upcoming congressional and other elections creates uncertainty with respect to legal, tax and regulatory regimes in which we and our investments, as well as the Adviser and its affiliates, will operate. Any significant changes in, among other things, economic policy (including with respect to interest rates and foreign trade), the regulation of the investment management industry, tax law, immigration policy and/or government entitlement programs could have a material adverse impact on us and our investments. We may utilize non-recourse securitizations of certain of our CMBS investments, which may expose us to risks that could result in losses. We may seek to utilize non-recourse securitizations of certain of our CMBS investments to the extent consistent with REIT and 1940 Act requirements. This would likely involve us creating a special-purpose vehicle, contributing a pool of our assets to the entity, and selling interests in the entity on a non-recourse basis to purchasers (whom we would expect to be willing to accept a lower interest rate to invest in investment-grade loan pools). We would expect to retain all or a portion of the equity in the securitized pool of loans or investments. Prior to any such financing, we may use short-term facilities to finance the acquisition of securities until a sufficient