We are delighted to share with you our newly updated report on Foreign Investment: Rising Tides of Politics in Regulation, which reflects a swathe of recent changes to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regimes around the world against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. FDI filings have become an increasingly important piece of the regulatory jigsaw … Read more

The UK Government has a significant choice to make over the next few weeks: it has to decide on its approach to protecting national security in a changing global landscape, while maintaining the country’s appeal – built up over the last 40 years – as an attractive and predictable jurisdiction for business and trade, welcoming … Read more

The UK government has announced two significant amendments to the UK merger control regime, intended to enhance its powers to scrutinise certain foreign direct investment (“FDI”) into the UK, against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and wider national security concerns. These amendments come ahead of the National Security and Investment Bill (“NS&I Bill”), which … Read more

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) has published proposed regulations that would change the trigger for mandatory filing requirements for certain transactions involving critical technologies from the North American Industry Classification System (“NAICS”) code system to one that examines whether a US export control license would be required to transfer the … Read more

Foreign direct investment (“FDI”) regulation has featured increasingly on the radar for cross-border M&A, against a backdrop of amplified protectionist rhetoric. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of countries which have traditionally been seen as open to foreign investment were moving towards stricter public interest and FDI scrutiny of transactions (such as the UK, … Read more

Germany is continuing to tighten its FDI regime: A current amendment to the German Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (AWV) brings new filing obligations for several case groups. The AWV amendment clearly focuses on the health sector as a direct consequence of the COVID-19-pandemic. It aims to contribute to the permanent maintenance of a functioning … Read more

The US Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) has issued regulations that require filing fees on certain filings made to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). Treasury’s actions follow proposed regulations, released in March 2020, that called for filing fees for certain transactions (as we reported), consistent with the previously-enacted Foreign Investment Risk … Read more

President Trump has issued an Executive Order (“EO”) establishing the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector (the “Telecom Committee”). The Telecom Committee will advise the US Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) concerning national security risks presented by non-US (foreign) investment in the US telecommunications services sector. Although the … Read more