On February 22, 2024, Frankfurt won the joint vote to host EU’s central enforcer in the fight against financial crime. The new Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (“AMLA”) will...more
The highly anticipated EU Artificial Intelligence Act is finally here! With extra-territorial reach and wide-reaching ramifications for providers, deployers, and users of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), the Artificial...more
3/15/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright ,
Data Mining ,
Data Protection ,
Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
European Parliament ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Governance Standards ,
Innovative Technology ,
Machine Learning ,
National Security ,
OECD ,
Technology Sector
In 2023, the European Union continued to use economic sanctions as one of its foreign policy tools, and not only in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. New sanctions and adjustments to existing regimes reflect the EU’s...more
3/7/2024
/ China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
Human Rights ,
Iran ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Terrorist Acts ,
UN Security Council
Building on the European Security Strategy of June 2023, the European Commission on January 24, 2024, adopted a package of five initiatives aiming to enhance the EU’s economic security. The package contains a far-reaching...more
2/7/2024
/ EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Greenfield Projects ,
Harmonization Rules ,
Investment ,
Member State ,
OECD
M&A activity in 2023 was subdued, as dealmakers grappled with geopolitical tensions, inflation, rising interest rates, and increasing regulatory scrutiny, against a backdrop of general economic uncertainty. Challenges in the...more
1/4/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Big Tech ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
CFIUS ,
Data Security ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Shareholder Activism ,
State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) ,
UK ,
Vertical Mergers
The obligation under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR)[1] to report M&A transactions involving parties which have benefited from foreign financial contributions enters into force today. This creates an additional...more
As Russia’s war in Ukraine passes the one-year mark, and the battles on the ground move forward with escalating levels of ferocity, governments around the world continue to coordinate and respond with increasingly severe...more
3/3/2023
/ Asset Freeze ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Central Bank of Russia ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Recent developments in the European Union (EU) as well as political demands indicate that the criminal prosecution of sanctions violations in the EU will be further intensified and possibly even centralized:...more
Jüngere Entwicklungen in der Europäischen Union („EU“) sowie politische Forderungen deuten darauf hin, dass die strafrechtliche Verfolgung von Sanktionsverstößen in der EU weiter intensiviert und gegebenenfalls sogar...more
As Russia’s war in Ukraine stretches into its tenth month, governments around the world continue to coordinate and respond with increasingly severe sanctions and export controls....more
12/7/2022
/ Crude Oil ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Russia ,
UK ,
Ukraine
As Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine nears the end of its second month, with regular reports of human rights violations, possible chemical weapons attacks, and head of state musings regarding whether this campaign amounts...more
4/18/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Relations ,
Japan ,
Most-Favored Nations ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
Ukraine
As Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine stretches on into its second month, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and other global allies have continued to pour additional funding and arms into Ukraine while...more
3/23/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Funding ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SWIFT ,
UK ,
Ukraine ,
US Department of State
After less than a week of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, the post-Cold War global architecture appears irrevocably shattered, as Western nations line up to offer support and military and economic aid to Ukraine...more
3/1/2022
/ Airspace ,
Asset Freeze ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
G7 ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
SWIFT ,
UK ,
Ukraine ,
United States
The legal and political skirmishing continued on both sides of the Atlantic in recent weeks over Nord Stream 2, the nearly finished Russian natural gas pipeline that continues to serve as a flash point within Europe and...more
The second of three packages of proposed 2020 amendments to the German rules on control over foreign direct investments (FDI), effective on July 17, 2020, brings a scheme of severe civil and criminal penalties and lays the...more
Effective June 3, 2020, the screening of foreign direct investments (FDIs) has been expanded in Germany with a first tranche of new rules primarily affecting the healthcare sector. This expansion of the FDI control scheme...more
7/17/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
AWG/AWV Rules ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
EU ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Framework Agreement ,
Germany ,
Investors ,
Ministry of Economy ,
Private Equity ,
Technology
As European nations increasingly focus on regulation of foreign direct investment (FDI), the UK Government recently announced changes to the Enterprise Act 2002, which underpins the UK’s merger control regime.
Within the...more
7/17/2020
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Enterprise Act 2002 ,
EU ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Jurisdictional Thresholds ,
Public Health ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Parliament
FOREIGN SUBSIDIES COULD SOON BECOME THE SUBJECT OF SPECIFIED EU REGULATIONS-
The EU Commission wants to create regulations to tackle impacts of foreign government funding in the EU. In its “White Paper on levelling the...more
The European Commission has issued guidance on how the EU public procurement framework can and should be used during the COVID-19 crisis.
While the Commission has not relaxed any of the existing EU procurement rules, it has...more
The EU has recently laid the ground to take a more active role in the screening of foreign direct investment (FDI). On April 10, 2019, the EU formally established a framework for foreign investment screening including a...more
Three weeks ago, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (the “E3”) created INSTEX SAS (Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges, INSTEX), an entity designed to enhance business between the EU and Iran and to serve as a core...more
Investing in the EU? Tighter foreign investment control is on its way as the new EU foreign investments control scheme takes shape while national governments adopt and enforce stricter rules.
SUMMARY -
Recent EU foreign...more
Investing in the EU? Tighter foreign investment control is on its way as the new EU foreign investments control scheme takes shape while national governments adopt and enforce stricter rules....more
Germany Strengthens Foreign Investment Control: New Rules to Thoroughly Screen Investments in Enlarged Number of Key Industries -
Germany ends its longtime liberal approach to foreign investments by increasing its...more
9/8/2017
/ Acquisitions ,
Biotechnology ,
China ,
Competition ,
EU ,
Foreign Investment ,
Germany ,
Investors ,
London Stock Exchange ,
Mergers ,
UK
Germany ends its longtime liberal approach to foreign investments by increasing its intervention possibilities at national level and by lobbying a stricter regime at the EU level. Since the takeover of German robotics...more