Legal News

The UK has become one of the latest in a line of countries around the world to tighten FDI screening rules in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislative changes that were passed recently affect the rules in two respects. They introduce the public health emergency as a new public interest consideration. They also lower the intervention thresholds for transactions in certain sensitive technology sectors. Similarly to other jurisdictions, the measures aim to protect key domestic...By: De...

The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR Act) is a procedural statute that requires parties to notify the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of proposed acquisitions that exceed certain thresholds. After submitting an HSR filing, the parties must observe a mandatory waiting period before completing the acquisition, giving the FTC and DOJ an opportunity to review the filing and determine whether the acquisition presents any substantive antitrust concerns.......By: Dechert LL...

Key Takeaways: - FTC commissioners have seven year terms and cannot be removed for political or policy reasons. - Absent a resignation, Republican commissioners will retain control of the FTC until 2023. - Companies should expect a high degree of continuity well into a potential Biden Administration........By: Dechert LLP

President Trump signed into law the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”) on August 13, 2018. FIRRMA made several substantial changes to the CFIUS process and expanded the scope of the Committee’s jurisdiction. Among other changes (described in more detail in our prior OnPoint), FIRRMA authorized CFIUS to mandate short form declarations for certain covered transactions involving U.S. critical technologies or involving the acquisition of a “substantial interest”...

The DOJ’s Antitrust Division announced updates late last week to its Civil Investigative Demand (CID) form, explicitly codifying its intent to potentially use materials received in response to CIDs to launch secondary investigations or refer matters to other government enforcement authorities or agencies.  In-house lawyers should be sensitive to three key takeaways. ...By: Dechert LLP

The UK has become one of the latest in a line of countries around the world to tighten FDI screening rules in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.... The legislative changes that were announced last month affect the rules in two respects. They immediately introduce the public health emergency as a new public interest consideration. They will also lower the intervention thresholds for transactions in certain sensitive technology sectors. Similarly to other jurisdictions, the measures aim to...By...

COVID-19 has had a significant financial impact on many listed companies and, in recent months, there has been a marked increase in equity capital raises by listed companies. As at 22 July 2020, there have been over 100 secondary equity fundraisings in excess of £10 million on the Main Market and AIM since the COVID lockdown period began. Some have had to raise emergency capital, on short notice and often at significant discounts, whereas others have sought to shore up their balance sheets as......

Key Takeaways - The European Commission has adopted a White Paper with proposals for sweeping enforcement powers to address potential distortive effects of foreign subsidies in the EU. The White Paper suggests that the tools that are currently at the EU’s disposal are insufficient to address potential distortions of competition that are specifically caused by foreign subsidies. The White Paper therefore proposes new powers both at the Commission and Member State levels to tackle this perceive...

Key Takeaways - - On July 31, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department, as chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”), published its Annual Report to Congress on all notices filed with CFIUS in 2019, the most recent year for which data has been declassified, and all reviews or investigations completed during the year (“Annual Report”). - The Annual Report also marks the second data set for reviews and investigations completed since the Forei...

Key Takeaways - On July 28, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department, as chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”), released the final rule to establish filing fees for CFIUS reviews of notices of transactions (“Final Rule”). ......By: Dechert LLP