Page 5 - The CFIUS Book

Foreword
The idea for this book began in 2017, when I was speaking to a contact at the U.S. Department of Treasury who works in the Office of Investment Security. I said, “I heard CFIUS filings were going to break last year’s record total.” He just laughed.
He said CFIUS received 172 filings in 2016, the most they had ever received in a year. At that point, in October 2017, he said there were over 200 submissions! CFIUS finished that year having received around 240 submissions for review, an increase of nearly 40% over their highest yearly total to that point.
The rise of CFIUS reviews in 2017 continues a trend of rising government interest in foreign investment in the United States, but it also illustrates what we see as a flexion point. A confluence of economic movement and political climate is shifting the regular review of critical U.S. asset acquisitions to a systematic review of a wide array of non-U.S. investments in the United States. The Committee is asserting its authority in new and expansive ways.
Meanwhile, we have delayed publication of this book to account for the new FIRRMA legislation, signed into law in August 2018. In that law, the U.S. legislature added new tools and new administrative apparatus to broaden and deepen reviews of inbound investment.
The trend is not limited to the United States. While this book will focus only on the machinations of a CFIUS application, another chapter, or perhaps another volume, may soon be needed to cover new regulations on investment review in the UK, France, Germany, and other European countries.
Now, 30 years after the creation of the Committee, it appears that a once-obscure commission that only occasionally rose to public notice will take an increasingly large role at the center of global investment trends.
For that reason, we present the following guide on how to navigate your deal past the bureaucratic obstacles and over the hidden pitfalls to a successful conclusion. We hope you find it helpful. We welcome your comments by email to rwhitten@sheppardmullin.com.
Thank you,
Reid Whitten
Managing Partner, London Office Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton
THE CFIUS BOOK
5