To Report Or Not To CFIUS, That Is the Question

With the complexities inherent in many cross-border transactions – from cultural differences to the growing number of competition authorities demanding paperwork – the last thing one may want to think about is whether to submit a voluntary report of a transaction to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The recent decision to block a transaction on CFIUS grounds, however, demonstrates that CFIUS should not be overlooked. So, deciding whether to report to CFIUS is one more issue that should be considered when doing transactions.

CFIUS

CFIUS reviews certain mergers or acquisitions that could result in foreign control of entities engaged in interstate commerce in the United States, and determines, or recommends to the president, whether to disallow or block transactions when there is credible evidence that they threaten national security. (This process was explained in detail in a prior post.)