Publication
Merger law reform in Australia: What next after the Exposure Draft?
As expected, the Australian Commonwealth Treasury released an exposure draft for the proposed new Australian merger regime on 24 July 2024.
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United States | Publication | September 2022
On September 15, 2022, US President Joseph Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) directing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to consider a specified list of national security risks when reviewing covered transactions. The EO represents the first time a US president has issued an executive order providing formal Presidential direction on priority national security risks since CFIUS was first established in 1975.
Specifically, the EO directs the Committee to evaluate covered transactions' impact on:
Each of these factors is widely understood to have already been considered by CFIUS when reviewing covered the transactions and the EO does not change CFIUS' jurisdiction, operations or processes. Therefore, the EO's intent appears to be more oriented toward sharpening the Committee's focus on these particular risk factors and also providing notice to the business community that transactions involving these areas are likely to be subject to increased scrutiny in the future.
Parties contemplating current or future transactions involving foreign investments should continue to ensure that their CFIUS due diligence process includes an examination of these particular risk factors and anticipate that transactions involving such risks may be subject to enhanced scrutiny by the Committee.
Our team continues to monitor this space and will publish additional updates as appropriate.
Special thanks to Law Clerk Claire Huitt (Washington, DC) for her assistance in the preparation of this content.
Publication
As expected, the Australian Commonwealth Treasury released an exposure draft for the proposed new Australian merger regime on 24 July 2024.
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