Long-Awaited Bipartisan CFIUS Reform Legislation Introduced in Congress Likely to Have Far-Reaching Implications for Foreign Investment Reviews
On November 8, 2017, Congressman Robert Pittenger and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn introduced long-awaited reform legislation that would considerably expand the scope and jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”)—the inter-agency committee charged with reviewing foreign investments in U.S. businesses for potential national security implications. The legislation responds to concerns that the CFIUS process has been inadequate to address questions of sensitive technology transfer and expanding cybersecurity and other threats to U.S. national security from countries of concern, chiefly China. With co-sponsors from both sides of the political aisle, passage of the proposed legislation—titled the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017 (“FIRRMA”)—appears to be less a question of “if” and more a question of when and in what form.