After spending the past eight years as vice president of tax credit services for Stonehenge Capital, Robert Lay has left the company to launch his own tax credit intermediary and finance company called Tempus Capital Partners.
On Monday, the Baton Rouge-based firm launched its own online portal for buying and selling tax credits. It’s called the Tax Credit Exchange Portal, and it’s among about 10 such online portals that are available on the Online Incentives Exchange, a tax credit exchange that was launched in 2012 with Louisiana as its test market.
“The idea is to take the buying and selling of tradeable state tax credits across all jurisdictions and bring that into the 21st century by offering it all on an online platform,” Lay says.
Lay says most trading and analyzing of state tax credits is still done the old-fashioned, analog way: via email, spreadsheets and word documents. A chief complaint Lay says he has heard from clients in his years trading tax credits is that the transactions need to be more transparent and efficient. The Online Incentives Exchange provides both, he says.
“Access, transparency and real-time pricing provided by the OIX’s digital online platform will benefit all players in the space, and the end result will be more liquidity and opportunity across all jurisdictions and credit types,” he says.
While most people are aware of tradable tax credits, Lay says the majority aren’t really sure how the process works or how they can benefit. He hopes his new firm will bridge the knowledge gap for individuals and businesses looking to get involved in trading tax credits.
“The biggest challenge to this market right now is a lack of education. The majority of people know these credits are out there. They just don’t know how they are traded,” Lay says. “Tempus will be a market maker. We’ll hold the hands of those who are interested in trying out trading on the OIX. We’ll be the experienced professional who is there with them to help transition them from the old school way of trading to the new digital space.”
—Steve Sanoski
