On May 11, 2018, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing
and Urban Affairs ("Committee") released a "discussion draft" of the Committee's
amendment to the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act
of 2017 ("FIRRMA"), which was introduced in November 2017
and would, among other things, provide additional authority to the
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
("CFIUS"). We previously reported on the key provisions
of FIRRMA in this November 2017
White Paper. The Committee, which held three hearings
and met with government and industry stakeholders in advance of
preparing the discussion draft, indicated that it expects to mark
up FIRRMA on May 22, 2018.
Key changes in the discussion draft include removing the
technology transfer provision (the so-called "joint
venture" provision) of FIRRMA that has been one of the most
hotly contested provisions of the proposed legislation. Instead,
the discussion draft tasks the Department of Commerce with
