New ICA Developments - Tougher Measures For SOE Investments

As part of its budget bill likely to come into force early this summer, the Government of Canada this week introduced legislation implementing its new policy for the review of investments by foreign state-owned enterprises ("SOEs") and other amendments to the Investment Canada Act ("ICA").

As discussed in our December 8, 2012 Update1 , these changes include:

• new, more restrictive guidelines for the review of SOE investments under the "net benefit test";
• implementing a hike to the financial threshold for the review of non-cultural, non-SOE investments, from $344 million "book value" to $1 billion "enterprise value"; and
• an extension to the time available to the Government to review transactions that raise national security concerns.