The Treasury Department should “assess” whether the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. has the jurisdiction to review the Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s purchase of the PGA Tour, two Democrats said in a June 16 letter to Treasury Secretary Yellen. Sen. Sherrod Brown, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, and Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said that if CFIUS has jurisdiction over the deal, the committee should “resolve any national security risks related to the transaction.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declined to say this week whether the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. would look into the Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s purchase of the PGA Tour despite several lawmakers urging CFIUS to review the deal. Yellen, speaking during a June 13 House Financial Services Committee hearing, said she couldn't comment on a potential review because there are “very strict rules of confidentiality,” but suggested the committee would review the acquisition if it implicated U.S. national security.
Considerations surrounding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. “should be baked into deal planning as early as possible,” especially as CFIUS scrutiny on Chinese investments is “not expected to ease any time soon,” Kilpatrick Townsend said in a June client alert. The firm said compliance officers whose company is pondering foreign investment from China need “to involve your regulatory teams as soon as possible” so the company can “identify the challenges likely to surface during the CFIUS process.”
Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and John Cornyn of Texas reintroduced a bill this week to expand U.S. foreign investment reviews to cover companies “working with genetic information.” The Genomics Expenditures and National Security Enhancement Act, originally introduced in 2021 (see 2105250022), would direct the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to “rewrite its regulations” to require mandatory filings for any foreign investments that involve genetic information. CFIUS would be required to consult with the Department of Health and Human Services on any deal that involves a “genetic data transaction,” and would be required to include the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence and the Foreign Relations Committee in its briefings.
Technology academics and industry officials this week cautioned Congress about potential U.S. export controls over quantum technologies and research, saying new restrictions without clear guidance could hamper U.S. competitiveness and innovation. But one current government official suggested the administration needs to be more “proactive” in protecting the most sensitive research from being stolen.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is open to working with lawmakers on a bill that could block China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from investing in American land or agricultural companies, said Paul Rosen, the head of CFIUS. While Rosen didn’t explicitly endorse the Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act, suggesting that CFIUS would need more resources if its jurisdiction were broadened, he said the legislation raises valid concerns.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The chair of the House Financial Services Committee is asking the Treasury Department for more information about potential outbound investment restrictions in China, including what types of investments in specific technologies would be targeted, whether the Biden administration plans to establish the regime through a national emergency and if the restrictions would be more effective than traditional trade restrictions. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., is concerned outbound investment restrictions “would prove futile,” the lawmaker’s news release said, and would “further serve” China’s goal of “limiting the influence of Western firms in Chinese markets.”
New guidance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. could significantly curtail the use of “springing rights” deals, leading to “substantial challenges” and delays of certain investments, law firms said this month. Other new CFIUS guidance puts companies “on notice” that the committee will demand information on limited partners involved in a transaction, despite any previously made confidentiality agreements.