ship of securities, by contract, or otherwise. A person or entity that directly or indirectly has the right to vote 25 percent or more of the voting interests of the company or is entitled to 25 percent or more of its profits is presumed to possess a controlling interest.” Criminal and civil penalties attach to violations of the act. Exceptions The act has a grandfather clause. Foreign principals who owned or acquired an interest (greater than a de minimis interest) in real prop- erty before July 1, 2023, may continue to own or hold the real prop- erty but may not purchase or otherwise acquire by grant, devise or descent any additional real property in Florida. Persons who exercise this exception and others must register with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FDEO). The Act also has exceptions. For example, a person may possess a “de minimis indirect interest” in land. This is an ownership interest that “is the result of the person’s or entity’s ownership of registered equities in a publicly traded company owning the land and if the person’s or entity’s ownership interest in the company is either less than 5 percent of any class of registered equities or less than 5 per- cent in the aggregate in multiple classes of registered equities; or a noncontrolling interest in an entity controlled by a company that is both registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an investment adviser … and is not a foreign entity.” www.hklaw.com FEATURED ARTICLES 113