The U.S. Department of Commerce, through the Bureau of Economic Analysis (the “BEA”), requires U.S. resident entities (such as private equity funds or portfolio companies) to file annual reports with the BEA if a U.S. resident entity (i) directly or indirectly owns 10% or more of the voting securities of a foreign affiliate and (ii) the foreign affiliate meets or exceeds certain financial thresholds (such reports herein referred to as “Direct Investment Surveys”). The next annual Direct Investment Survey must be filed by May 31, 2012 (subject to any extensions granted by the BEA).

Reporting Requirements

History.The BEA filing requirements (including the annual, quarterly and benchmark filings described below) have been in existence for many years. The BEA has orally confirmed that it does not intend to penalize an entity that has not previously filed, despite having an obligation to do so, where it was not contacted by the BEA. The BEA has stated informally, however, that it intends to police these filings more rigorously going forward (i.e., the BEA’s underlying interest is to promote the future filing of all U.S. resident entities that may have an obligation to do so).

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