[Live] How Dealmakers Need to Think About CFIUS

Events Daanish Hamid Judy Deng Tuesday, October 11, 8:00am Eastern Time United States /8:00pm China Standard Time

中文 English

About the Webinar:

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) continues to play an active and expanding role. CFIUS is an interagency committee chaired by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury that screens certain foreign investments in or acquisitions of U.S. businesses or real estate to determine if they could impair U.S. national security.

If CFIUS determines that it has jurisdiction and that a transaction raises relevant national security concerns, CFIUS can request the parties to agree to certain mitigation measures. If the parties refuse to accept mitigation measures or if CFIUS determines that its concerns cannot be mitigated, CFIUS will ask the parties to withdraw from or unwind their transaction. If transaction parties refuse, CFIUS will notify the President of the United States of that transaction. The President will then decide, upon advice from CFIUS, whether to exercise his legal authority to suspend, block, or unwind the transaction. These types of consequences can have a significant disruptive effect on the flow of foreign capital into the United States.

As a result of tense US-China trade relations, investors from China have received significant attention from CFIUS. In addition, investors from other countries in the Asia region that have Chinese connections can also trigger CFIUS scrutiny. There has been significant discussion in the popular media as to whether deals involving these parties will even be allowed by CFIUS. Chinese investments into the United States have dropped significantly over the past few years. However, legitimate questions can be raised as to whether all China deals are at risk of being blocked by CFIUS and whether media coverage has been overexaggerated.

Please join Rimon partners Judy Deng and Daanish Hamid for a fireside chat on recent CFIUS developments and trends. Judy is a partner in our corporate practice and regularly leads investment and M&A deals involving parties from China and the rest of Asia. Daanish is a partner with Rimon’s international trade and national security practices who focuses on CFIUS reviews and filings. He has successfully represented company-side as well as investor-side clients before CFIUS.

During this fireside chat, we will discuss

• The basics of CFIUS.
• Recent CFIUS developments.
• The role that critical technology, critical infrastructure, and sensitive data play in the CFIUS analysis.
• What strategies parties should follow prior to submitting a CFIUS filing.
• Specific CFIUS concerns that Chinese and other Asian investors need to consider.

This fireside session will be relevant to

• Asian venture capital and private equity firms
• Corporate VC arms of Asian companies
• U.S. businesses involved with technology, infrastructure, and data seeking to attract Asian capital
• U.S. real estate developers
• Investment bankers, consultants, and other dealmakers involved with connecting Asian capital with U.S. business and real estate opportunities ​​​​​​​

Participants are encouraged to submit questions in advance or during the fireside chat. Please send questions to fiona.carlon@rimonlaw.com

A recording of this session will be made available with Chinese subtitles.

Click here to view the webinar recording. 

Moderator: Judy Deng, Partner

Judy Deng practices corporate and securities law, with an emphasis on the representation of international social networking, entertainment, digital media, software and medical technology companies. Ms. Deng has extensive experience counseling private companies with international operations in various stages of growth and advising institutional investors in complex cross-border transactions involved with such companies. Ms. Deng counsels clients in cross-border restructurings and reorganizations, financing, mergers and acquisitions, executive and employee incentive programs, and strategic intellectual property transactions.

Speaker: Daanish Hamid, Partner

Daanish Hamid is a partner in Rimon’s Washington DC office who focuses on international trade and national security concerns. He advises clients on sophisticated cross-border regulatory matters that impact corporate acquisitions, commercial transactions, and international operations. He counsels companies on OFAC sanctions, anti-money laundering, FCPA/anti-corruption, and CFIUS/national security matters. Clients regularly call upon Mr. Hamid  to help establish or enhance their international compliance programs, conduct third party due diligence, and provide compliance training. He has conducted numerous internal investigations and has represented parties before various U.S. government agencies, including the Department of the Treasury and other members of CFIUS.

Our attorneys have extensive experience representing clients before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) with respect to national security reviews of their M&A, PE/VC/CVC, joint venture, and real estate deals. U.S., as well as foreign companies and investors, regularly seek our user-friendly guidance on navigating complex CFIUS laws and regulations, including the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) and its implementing rules. We have evaluated hundreds of transactions to determine whether they trigger CFIUS filing requirements. In addition, we advise parties on CFIUS exemptions as well as effective strategies to mitigate their CFIUS risk if necessary. We have handled CFIUS matters for buy-side/investor clients domiciled in China, Japan, Korea, Europe, Australia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Our CFIUS experience covers the aerospace/defense, autonomous vehicles, semiconductors, technology (AI, software, social media, and big data), energy, mining, biotech/life sciences, and other sectors. Read more here.