CFIUS Enforcement Guidelines — A First For The Committee

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or the Committee) is a federal interagency group that assesses whether a foreign acquirer's transaction by purchasing certain U.S. assets presents a national security risk. CFIUS is reposed in the Department of the Treasury, but several other federal agencies are also CFIUS stakeholders and decision-makers.

At the end of the day, the ball lies with the U.S. president. The president may block the transaction in question — regulated parties (sometimes known as "subject persons") have limited substantive recourse¹ — though usually at most mitigation agreements are imposed to minimize an otherwise questionable transaction's national security risk. That way, the transaction can go through. The Committee's recent actions reinforce that it remains a robust tool for the Executive Branch to police investment inflow carrying national security implications. And CFIUS emphasizes time and again that it prizes