FDI

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On October 17, 2024, the European Commission (“Commission“) published its forth annual report on the screening of foreign direct investments (“FDI“) into the Union (the “Report“), following previous editions published in October 2023, September 2022 and November 2021. Notable findings include the follow:Continue Reading EU FDI: State Of The Union (2024)

On October 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) issued a long-awaited Final Rule (the “Final Rule”) implementing the U.S. Outbound Investment Security Program (the “Program”).[1] Under the Program, effective January 2, 2025, U.S. persons will be prohibited from engaging in, or required to notify Treasury regarding, a broad range of transactions involving entities engaged in certain activities relating to semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence (“AI”) systems in “countries of concern” (presently limited to China, Hong Kong, and Macau).

Please click here to read the full alert memorandum.Continue Reading Long-Awaited U.S. Outbound Investment Regime Published, Will Become Effective January 2, 2025

  • United States: CFIUS releases 2023 Annual Report; expanded scope for CFIUS jurisdiction and filing requirements; new export controls on quantum computing and other advanced technologies.
  • United Kingdom: Annual Report published; remedies imposed on four transactions.
  • European Union: First merger commitments adopted under EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
  • Belgium: First Annual Report on Belgian FDI Screening; revised notification forms and guidelines.
  • France: Close scrutiny for foreign investment in pharmaceutical sector (Biogaran and Doliprane).
  • Germany: Prohibition of Chinese investment in gas turbine sector.
  • Italy: Annual Report shows that volume of filings remain high but majority deemed out-of-scope and intervention rates low (22 out of 563 filings).
  • Netherlands: Proposal for new sectoral investment control regime for defense industry.
  • Spain: Government prohibits €619 million acquisition of Spanish train manufacturer Talgo by Hungarian consortium

Continue Reading Global FDI Update: July – September 2024

  • Belgium issues first statistics on its FDI regime: vast majority cleared in phase I, a handful in phase II, and one ex officio investigation.
  • EU Commission starts showing its teeth in the enforcement of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, with the first ex officio investigations.
  • France publishes its 2023 FDI report, with filing numbers and outcomes that are largely consistent with previous years.
  • Germany’s plans to overhaul its FDI regime slow down amid political controversies.
  • Italy authorizes Safran’s acquisition of RTX’s actuator business, reversing its initial veto, in light of Safran’s commitments.
  • Rotterdam court issues first judgment under the new Dutch FDI regime, ruling against the Government.
  • Four years of Spanish FDI screening: an overview.
  • UK Government issues updated guidelines on National Security & Investment Act (NSIA).
  • President Biden issues order requiring Chinese owner to divest cryptocurrency mining facility near U.S. military base.

Continue Reading Cleary Gottlieb FDI Newsletter: April – June 2024

  • The European Commission proposes a revised EU FDI Screening Regulation
  • EU takes time to ready Outbound Investment Control Toolkit
  • German FDI reviews dropped in 2023, but FDI review activity follows the trends of prior years
  • Italian FDI reviews in 2023 remained consistently high, despite the end of the extraordinary provisions enacted in connection with the Covid-19 outbreak
  • UK: NSIA decisions, Telegraph Media Group public interest review, and new legislation prohibiting foreign state ownership of newspapers
  • In the U.S., updates to the Critical and Emerging Technologies list signal refinement of focus for CFIUS.

Continue Reading Cleary Gottlieb FDI Newsletter: January – March 2024

The German FDI authority, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (“BMWK”), has published the German FDI screening statistics for 2023.[1]Continue Reading Overall number of German FDI screenings slightly dropped in 2023, but review follows the trends of prior years

On February 1, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit unanimously granted a preliminary injunction in Shen v. Simpson, enjoining enforcement of a Florida law regulating foreign ownership of U.S. land.  That law prohibits citizens of the People’s Republic of China who are not lawful permanent residents of the United States from purchasing certain real property in Florida.  The Eleventh Circuit’s ruling enjoined enforcement of the law against two individual plaintiffs, and the court held that those plaintiffs had shown a “substantial likelihood of success” on their claim that the Florida law was preempted by the Foreign Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”), the most recent federal statute expanding the authority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”), including with respect to certain real estate transactions.  In concurrence with the majority, Judge Abudu wrote that the plaintiffs also showed a substantial likelihood of success on their argument that Florida’s law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.Continue Reading U.S. Circuit Court Finds that Florida Law Prohibiting Foreign Ownership of U.S. Land Likely Preempted by CFIUS Statute

On January 24, 2024, the European Commission (“EC”) adopted five initiatives as part of the European Economic Security Strategy unveiled in June 2023.[1]  The initiatives are aimed at bolstering the EU’s economic security interests.  Their main focus is a proposal for a new EU FDI Screening Regulation aimed at inbound investments.[2]  But the package also includes a white paper on outbound investment control (the “White Paper”),[3] launching a debate on whether and how to scrutinize investment outflows from the EU for the first time in the Union’s history.Continue Reading EU Takes Time to Ready Outbound Investment Control Toolkit

The following post was originally included as part of our recently published memorandum “Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2024”.

In 2024, boards of directors face a well-established, complex and active global foreign direct investment (FDI) landscape in which transactions will regularly trigger multijurisdictional FDI filing and approval processes.  This is the case not only with respect to well-known FDI review regimes such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), but also with newly established, modified, and/or expanded non-U.S. FDI review regimes, particularly in Europe.  Indeed, as governments around the world have become increasingly empowered and willing to scrutinize, and in some cases prevent, transactions they deem objectionable, FDI approvals have become a significant regulatory issue for many cross-border transactions.Continue Reading FDI Review Regimes are Well-Established and Active; Outbound Investment Regimes are on the Horizon

  • The UK Government consults on changes to the National Security and Investment Act.
  • The new Irish FDI regime was signed into law and is expected to come into force in Q2 2024.
  • An update on the state of Dutch FDI review confirms active enforcement and adds clarification on retro-active application.
  • Seemingly small but impactful changes of the French FDI regime ahead.
  • German courts overrule FDI decisions of the German FDI authority. Judicial protection is possible, but more likely succeed on the basis of procedural breaches.
  • The Italian Government vetoes an acquisition in the defense sector by French Safran.
  • The European Commission published its third annual report on EU FDI screening, providing an overview of FDI enforcement trends and statistics and also published the results of its consultation on the evaluation and revision of the EU FDI screening regulation.

Continue Reading Cleary Gottlieb FDI Newsletter: November – December 2023