The U.S. Department of the Treasury proposed regulations on June 21, 2024, that would prohibit certain outbound investments by U.S. persons in Chinese companies focused on semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum...more
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has taken another significant step in transforming from a limited jurisdiction interagency committee that primarily reviewed voluntary filings into a body with...more
The Biden administration has issued a long-awaited executive order authorizing regulation of U.S. investments in Chinese semiconductor, quantum computing and AI companies. The Treasury Department published a corresponding...more
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reportedly observed limits on its authority in a recent case to examine and potentially disturb foreign investment transactions for national security reasons....more
U.S. companies with foreign ownership face a June 30 deadline to respond to a survey of foreign investment in the United States. The U.S. government is conducting the 2022 Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the...more
On April 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) imposed a $300 million civil penalty on Seagate Technology LLC, a U.S. supplier of data-storage products. BIS found that...more
On October 7, 2022, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry Security (“BIS”) released new export control regulations (the “New Regulations”) that intensify and complicate U.S. and non-U.S. companies’ international...more
The President has issued the first executive order providing formal direction to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) on the risks that it should consider in its examination of foreign investment...more
This guidance does not constitute legal advice. To the extent that you have any questions arising out of the guidance, please speak to a member of the Orrick team who will be happy to assist. The invasion of Ukraine by...more
5/11/2022
/ Blocked Person ,
Blocking Sanctions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Foreign Bank Accounts ,
Foreign Investment ,
International Tax Issues ,
National Security ,
Russia ,
Technology Sector ,
UK
The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has adjusted U.S. export controls in ways that dramatically limit unlicensed supply to Russia or Belarus of many types of software with encryption...more
Every week, scores of U.S. companies are sold to foreign investors or execute equity financing transactions involving foreign investors. Parties to these transactions must assess whether they are legally required to file...more
On October 21, 2021, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published a rule that will restrict some exports, reexports, and other overseas transfers of equipment, software, and technology...more
On December 18, 2020, the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced the addition of 77 new entities, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (“SMIC”), to the Entity List. ...more
2/12/2021
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Licensing Rules ,
Military End Use ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Semiconductors
On January 5, 2021, President Trump issued Executive Order 13971 (the “Executive Order”) that provides for prohibitions on U.S. persons engaging in transactions with persons that develop or control any of the following eight...more
1/11/2021
/ China ,
Data Collection ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Social Media ,
Software ,
Trump Administration
Late last week, a Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order granting a motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction forbidding implementation of sanctions against...more
9/21/2020
/ China ,
Data Collection ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
First Amendment ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Social Media ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration
Last week, the Department of Commerce took steps to implement sanctions targeting China’s mobile applications WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd. (“WeChat Sanctions”), and TikTok, owned by ByteDance Ltd. (“ByteDance”)...more
As anticipated in our prior alert, yesterday the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) published a final rule that ties CFIUS’s mandatory filing requirement for certain “critical technology”...more
9/16/2020
/ CFIUS ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Filing Requirements ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
ITAR ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Requirements
The U.S. government is expanding international trade restraints against Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (“Huawei”) and its affiliates in an effort to further restrict Huawei’s access to U.S. technologies.....more
8/20/2020
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Cybersecurity ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Huawei ,
National Security ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Supply Chain ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration
As noted in our recent alert, President Trump signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (“HKAA”) on July 14, 2020. On the same day, the President also issued an Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization (the “Executive...more
Yesterday, after unanimous passage by the U.S. Congress, President Trump signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (“HKAA”) in retaliation against China for it's “Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong...more
On May 1, 2020, the President issued Executive Order 13920, “Securing the United States Bulk-Power System” (“E.O. 13920”) to address what the Trump Administration considers to be national security threats to the U.S....more
6/17/2020
/ Bulk Electric System ,
CFIUS ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Suppliers ,
National Security ,
Power Purchase Agreements ,
Supply Chain ,
Trump Administration
On May 1, 2020, the President issued Executive Order 13920, “Securing the United States Bulk-Power System (“E.O. 13920”),” to authorize restrictions on “bulk-power system electric equipment” if there is a connection to a...more
It has been an active last week in the world of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). In addition to CFIUS’s publication of proposed regulations that would impose filing fees for parties’...more
On January 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) released Version 1.0 of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”) framework (CMMC overview here; CMMC Version 1.0 and appendices here). By 2026, DoD...more
3/6/2020
/ Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Contractors ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") issued final regulations on January 13, 2020 to comprehensively implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 ("FIRRMA") (the...more
1/21/2020
/ CFIUS ,
Change of Control ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Filing Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment ,
Investment Funds ,
Jurisdiction ,
National Security ,
New Regulations ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Principal Place of Business ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sensitive Personal Information