For more than a year, Canada’s foreign investment review regime has been on the cusp of a dramatic expansion that will supercharge foreign investors’ obligations to obtain pre-closing national security non-objection or...more
On 8 February 2023, the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced his government’s decision to restructure the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), splitting it into a number of separate departments....more
The National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA) came into force a year ago, ushering in a new era of investment control in the UK. Though not without teething issues, the NSIA appears to be working well, and is...more
With 2023 only a few days old, many predictions are out there about what the New Year holds for investment and M&A activity. While it is hard to prophesy, particularly in such unprecedentedly turbulent times, one legal trend...more
On December 7, 2022, François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (the Minister), announced several proposed amendments to the national security regime under the Investment Canada Act (ICA)...more
On Wednesday, December 7, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry introduced the National Security Review of Investments Modernization Act. It proposes significant amendments to the national security regime operated...more
On 4 January 2022, the UK National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) came into full force. As we previously noted, the NSI Act grants the UK government wide new powers to scrutinise and intervene in acquisitions and...more
Background CFIUS is an interagency committee, principally comprising of nine members and chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, which has broad powers to review foreign investments in and acquisitions of U.S. businesses to...more
U.S. lawmakers have proposed requiring government approval for certain outbound investments, much as today's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States regime requires a national security review of certain...more
The UK Government recently published its Annual Report on the application of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA). This first annual report covers the period from the commencing of the NSIA (4 January 2022) to...more
China China has increased its efforts to scrutinize global transactions that may implicate national security concerns using its foreign investment security review ("FISR") process....more
The National Security and Investment (NSI) regime has gone fully live in the UK this week. Get up to speed on how it will impact your acquisitions and investments. Deals in a broad range of sectors may face scrutiny and...more
The United Kingdom's National Security and Investment Act (the NSI Act) is now fully in force. First proposed in 2016, the NSI Act creates a stand-alone regime that authorizes the UK government to consider and address the...more
The United Kingdom's National Security and Investment Act (NSI Act) is scheduled to come fully into force on January 4, 2022. The NSI Act will create a new framework for the UK government to review so-called "trigger events,"...more
Applicants with reportable foreign ownership must be prepared to submit responses to standard national security and law enforcement questions before or at the time of filing with the FCC. On September 30, 2021, the...more
The UK government announced on 20 July that the National Security and Investment Act will enter into force on 4 January 2022. This act introduces mandatory filings for certain investments raising national security concerns,...more
Following our prior client alerts regarding the U.K.’s new investment screening regime under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (the Act), the U.K. government has announced that the Act will come into force on 4...more
On December 19, 2020, China's National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") and the Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") jointly issued the Measures for the Security Review of Foreign Investments ("New FISR Measures"), which...more
The Situation: The Australian government has introduced significant changes to its foreign investment review framework. The centrepiece of the changes is an enhanced review of acquisitions of property or businesses which are...more
In response to the COVID-19 emergency, the screening powers of the Italian government were significantly expanded - The Italian government, which is led by the President of the Chamber of Ministries, together with any...more
The Federal Antimonopoly Service strengthens enforcement of foreign investments legislation - Established by the Russian government in 2008, the Government Commission on Control over Foreign Investments in the Russian...more
Increased awareness of safety concerns related to foreign direct investments has prompted a ramp-up toward the implementation of a general FDI screening regulation - As of this writing, Sweden does not have a general FDI...more
The UK has published a draft of its new National Security and Investment Bill, together with explanatory notes, heralding the introduction of a new regime for reviewing investments in the UK. The new regime would introduce,...more
In 2020, Japan tightened foreign direct investment review but also introduced a prior notification exemption scheme - Japan's Ministry of Finance (MOF), and its ministries with jurisdiction over the target entity's...more
On 11 November 2020, the government announced the details of its proposals for national security-based review of investments in the UK, in the form of the National Security and Investment Bill ("NSIB"). Protectionism is a...more