Please join Baker McKenzie and the Customs and International Trade Bar Association’s (CITBA) National Security and Sanctions Committee for a hybrid roundtable discussion on Tuesday, September 16, from 5:30 – 7:30 PM EDT.The discussion will focus on the current landscape of the Treasury’s inbound and outbound investment rules, including CFIUS updates and the evolving outbound screening framework, with featured panelists Rod Hunter, Partner at Baker McKenzie and Nova Daly, Senior Public Policy Advisor at Wiley…
In brief On 22 July 2025, the UK Cabinet Office made three major announcements relating to the National Security and Investment Act (“NSI Act”), which embodies the UK’s foreign direct investment (“FDI”) screening process. Firstly, the UK Government confirmed its intention to create exemptions to the NSI Act regime for certain types of internal reorganisations. Secondly, it launched a planned consultation on a raft of proposed changes to the notifiable sectors, including the introduction of…
In brief On 23 June 2025, the UK government published its Modern Industrial Strategy paper (the “Strategy Paper”). Among other important proposed reforms to corporate governance and regulatory red-tape, the Strategy Paper sets out plans to hold a 12-week consultation period (the “Consultation”) to identify areas of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (“NSIA”) mandatory notification sector definitions that could be amended to encourage inbound foreign direct investment (“FDI”) to the UK. The Strategy…
On 8 May 2025, the European Parliament adopted an amended proposal to revise the EU Foreign Direct Investment Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/452) (the “FDI Regulation”), amending the proposal originally published by the EU Commission and significantly deviating from it in certain important areas. The FDI Regulation revisions will bring into force significant changes to the foreign investment screening landscape across all Member States. It will be essential for investors to seek regulatory advice early in the planning stages of a transaction involving one or more EU Member States in order to formulate a robust FDI regulatory strategy.
In brief 2024 brought many changes and developments to foreign investment law in Canada. The Canadian government introduced various reforms to foreign investment policy through amendments to the Investment Canada Act (the “Act”), reframing risk in certain sensitive industries which Canada views as important for safeguarding its national security and economic interests. Geopolitical and trade tensions have also increased Canada’s use of national security reviews over foreign investments from Chinese investors, particularly in Canadian critical mineral assets…
In brief The government of Canada recently announced a significant 45-day consultation on economic security, which remains open until 23 September 2024. The purpose of the consultation is to consider measures to strengthen Canada’s “economic security and supply chain resilience” against the threat of “protectionist and nonmarket policies and practices” and “economic threats or coercion.” This alert provides an overview of recent legislative and policy measures focused on Canada’s economic security, which the result of…
On 1 July 2024, the Dutch government published a legislative proposal specifically aimed at ensuring national security in the defense sector, through the so-called Defense Resilience and Safety Related Sector Act (Wet weerbaarheid defensie en veiligheid gerelateerde industrie, the “Proposed Act”). Importantly, the Proposed Act – which needs to be seen in the broader context of current geopolitical tensions and Dutch and European policy priorities to safeguard strategic autonomy and prevent undue influence from undesired…
On July 8, 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Investment Security announced a proposed rule that would expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) over transactions by foreign persons involving real estate in the United States. While CFIUS has jurisdiction over all acquisitions by foreign persons of US businesses, CFIUS also has authority to review acquisition of real estate unconnected with a US business where that real estate is…
In brief The Government of Canada recently passed Bill C-34, the National Security Review of Investment Modernization Act (“Bill C-34“), marking a turning point in the review of foreign investment in Canada. Bill C-34 enhances the Canadian government’s national security review powers under the Investment Canada Act (“ICA“) and introduces mandatory pre-closing filings for certain investments. The amendments are intended to address evolving threats arising from foreign investment and to ensure Canada’s economic security and prosperity. Bill…
In brief Canada has announced two complementary policies that will subject foreign investment in the interactive digital media (“IDM“) sector to enhanced scrutiny under the Investment Canada Act (“ICA“). IDM relates to digital content and/or digital environments where users can participate or collaborate, including certain mobile apps, video games, and virtual reality platforms. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry’s policy is intended to stop hostile state-sponsored or state-influenced actors (“SOEs“) from leveraging Canada’s IDM sector to spread…