On September 15, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order that provides direction to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) regarding some of the factors it should consider when evaluating the national security risks posed by transactions within the jurisdiction of CFIUS.[1]  Although, in many ways, the Executive Order simply codifies the priorities and areas of interest on which people familiar with CFIUS understand CFIUS is focused, the Executive Order puts market participants on clear notice that CFIUS will scrutinize transactions that implicate such priorities and areas of interest. Continue Reading President Biden Issues CFIUS-Related Executive Order Regarding Evolving National Security Landscape

On September 9, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued preliminary guidance (Preliminary Guidance) providing the initial outline of a long-anticipated price cap on Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products (Price Cap), taking effect December 5, 2022 and February 5, 2023, respectively.[1]  The Price Cap is expected to be implemented by “a coalition of countries including the G7 and the EU” and follows an earlier statement of intent issued September 2, 2022 by G7 finance ministers.[2] Continue Reading U.S. Treasury Department Issues Preliminary Guidance on Russian Oil Price Cap and Services Ban

Cleary Gottlieb partner Chase Kaniecki and associate Will Dawley co-authored an article titled, “3 Foreign Investment Issues Affecting Cross-Border Deals,” which was published by Law360.

In the article they provide a summary of the recent developments in the FDI review regimes in the EU and the U.K. and highlight three of the key recurring issues raised by these, and other, FDI review regimes.

To read the article, click here.

 

The U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) recently published an interim final rule imposing export controls on additional technologies that satisfy the criteria pertaining to emerging and foundational technologies under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (“ECRA”).[1]    Continue Reading New Export Controls on Semiconductor and Gas Turbine Engine Technologies Expand CFIUS Mandatory Notification Requirements

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) recently released its 2021 Annual Report, which provides important information and statistics about covered transactions reviewed by CFIUS in 2021 and the underlying implications for foreign investors.[1] Continue Reading CFIUS 2021 Annual Report – Five Key Takeaways

Cleary Gottlieb partner Chase Kaniecki and associate Samuel Chang co-authored “Sanctions Compliance and Contingency Planning: Lessons From the Conflict in Ukraine,” a special expert briefing article in Financier Worldwide’s August 2022 issue.

Since 2001, Financier Worldwide has reported on corporate finance and board-level business issues.

To read the full article, click here.

As the next part of our series of updates focusing on the key disputes and risk related issues arising from the conflict in Ukraine, we have highlighted specific instances where EU companies and executives may be exposed to risks of criminal liability. (Our first update focusing on the effect of the conflict on contractual obligations is here). Whether you are directly affected by these risks, or have a counter party which is constrained by them, it is essential to navigate them effectively. Continue Reading Russia-Ukraine Disputes Taskforce: Risk of Criminal Liability

Recent developments regarding global competition enforcement and foreign direct investment, or FDI, review regimes have created uncertainty for cross-border transactions.  Specifically, global merger control authorities have become increasingly aggressive in “calling in” transactions under so-called “voluntary” regimes and a number of FDI review regimes recently have been established or expanded.  These developments have resulted in more complicated due diligence processes, global merger control and FDI filing analyses, and contract negotiations associated with cross-border transactions.  To ensure that cross-border transactions can be successfully completed, this added complexity demands the exercise of judgment and close coordination between the parties and their respective antitrust and FDI teams.  On June 23, 2022, we published an article on Competition Policy International summarizing the recent developments regarding the global merger control environment and global FDI review regimes, highlighting the practical implications of these developments for parties involved in cross-border transactions, and discussing the overlapping considerations created by the global merger control and global FDI review regime analyses.

The full article on Competition Policy International is available here.

To download a pdf of the article, click here.

We are witnessing a new dispute resolution landscape emerge as a result of the ongoing situation in Ukraine.

We have created a dedicated taskforce of specialists that aims to help our clients through this challenging time as the number of business and legal issues arising from the conflict continues to increase. This includes sharing market experience, insight and providing practical advice. We will examine and share with you in the coming weeks the key disputes and risk related issues we see clients focusing on. Continue Reading Russia-Ukraine Disputes Taskforce

In a recent opinion, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that there is probable cause to find that a U.S. citizen-defendant violated U.S. sanctions by funneling cryptocurrency to a payments platform that the defendant operated in a “comprehensively sanctioned country.” Continue Reading U.S. Federal Judge Finds Probable Cause for Conspiracy to Violate U.S. Sanctions and to Defraud the United States in First Published Opinion Discussing U.S. Sanctions Violations Involving Use of Cryptocurrency