Recent years have seen a proliferation of foreign investment screening and control regimes worldwide, and with them, heightened government scrutiny of foreign investment transactions. The implementation of such “foreign direct investment” (FDI) regimes has accelerated as national governments broaden their conceptions of national security issues and seek to protect an expansive range of industries and technologies.
Whereas governments traditionally have focused their scrutiny on strategic industries with direct defence applications (e.g., aerospace and munitions), governments now realize that many commercial and emerging technologies (such as artificial intelligence, data infrastructure and communications) also have national security implications.
Consequently, broadening concepts of national security issues has given rise to a patchwork of complex and dynamic FDI legislation across the world, each with different jurisdictional reach, transaction trigger thresholds and formal disclosure requirements – some mandatory, some voluntary. Global investors now must diligence FDI issues and allocate risks as part of their deal planning at an early stage of their transactions.
This webinar discussed the impact of the new UK National Security and Investment Act 2021, which will come fully into force on 4 January 2022, as informed by recent developments in the US CFIUS regime, and the implications for M&A transactions.
Speakers
- Chris Blairs – Deputy Director, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
- Lizette Perez-Deisboeck – General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Battery Ventures
- David Smith – Partner, Arma Partners
- Christine Graham – Special Counsel, Cooley
- Dillon Martinson – Special Counsel, Cooley
This Webinar took place on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 from 8:00 – 9:00 am PST, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm EST, 4:00 – 5:00 pm UK BST
Register for on demand viewing
For more information, please email Melissa Monnier.
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