The US Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) has published a request for comments on supply chains for the production of agricultural commodities and food products under the America’s Supply Chains Executive Order (“Supply Chain EO”). Issues for comment include processing and distribution, capacity and access issues in food production, and a range of risks that may impact supply chains. The USDA is the fourth agency to issue a request for comments under the Supply Chain EO.…

On March 26, the Japanese government approved a new bill: the “Bill on the investigations and regulations of the use of lands and buildings in neighboring areas of certain important facilities and remote islands that are adjacent to borders”[1] (“Bill”). The Bill, which grants authority to investigate and regulate the purchase and use of land and buildings which are in close proximity to defense facilities and important infrastructure[2], was submitted to the Diet on the…

An amendment to the Critical Infrastructure Act introducing a brand-new foreign direct investment screening mechanism to Slovakia entered into force on 1 March 2021. The mechanism introduces an obligation to notify changes in the ownership structure of operators of elements of critical infrastructure, as well as a screening mechanism for ownership changes in narrowly-defined industries, which have become subject to examination by the Ministry of Economy and, in certain cases, subsequent approval by the Slovak…

On 7 October 2020, the European Commission adopted the revised Annex I (the “Dual-Use List”) to Regulation 428/2009 (the “Dual-Use Regulation”) (see here). The new Dual-Use List came into force on 15 December 2020. Further details are available on our Sanctions and Export Controls Blog here.

Date: Wednesday 2 December 2020Time: 2 – 3 pm (GMT) Registration link: here The UK’s foreign investment landscape is heading for a complete overhaul. On 11 November 2020, the UK Government introduced a new law that significantly expands its powers to review transactions on national security grounds, in line with global trends of increasing regulatory scrutiny of incoming foreign investments. Baker McKenzie has analysed the new law and regulatory impact for businesses in detail so that…

On September 15, 2020, the Treasury Department published the anticipated final rule modifying the scope of the critical technology filing requirement under the regulations of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). The final rule tracks the proposed rule issued on May 21, 2020 in aligning more closely filing requirements for foreign investments with export licensing requirements. Effective October 15, 2020, filings will be mandatory for foreign investments in US critical technology…

On July 28, 2020, the Department of the Treasury issued a final rule formally implementing filing fees for formal notices of transactions submitted to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). CFIUS filing fees were previously established in an interim rule on April 29, 2020, and are assessed on a sliding scale between $0 and $300,000, depending on the value of the transaction. In addition, the final rule also narrows the definition…

On January 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) issued two anticipated final rules (the “Final Rules”) that replace the existing regulations governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). The Final Rules implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (“FIRRMA”) enacted in August 2018, which expanded the United States’ foreign investment review regime. FIRRMA mandated pre-closing notification of certain foreign investments and expanded the scope of transactions subject to…

On September 17, 2019, the Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) released for public comment two proposed rules (the “Proposed Rules”) implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (“FIRRMA”) enacted in August 2018. FIRRMA expanded the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) and granted CFIUS new tools to regulate foreign investments raising national security concerns. Our previous analysis of FIRRMA is available here, and our analysis of the “critical technologies”…