On August 14, 2018, legislation reforming the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), and dual-use export controls, the Export Controls Reform Act (ECRA), were signed into law as part of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA) (H.R. 5515, 115th Cong. (2018)). This legislation expands CFIUS’s authority to review investment in US businesses and expand the scope of controlled technologies to include emerging technologies not currently controlled.
Our analysis covers the following areas:
- More investments will be covered transactions
- Limited exemption for non-controlling investments by investment funds
- Mandatory filings for investors with “substantial” foreign government interest
- Exemptions and waivers for mandatory declaration filings
- Critical technology now includes emerging technologies
- CFIUS is authorized to create special treatment for countries
- CFIUS to develop “pilot programs” to vet new authorities
- Procedural changes: declaration filings, increased timelines and filing fees
- Key takeaways
Download a complete copy of our analysis here.
