Thomson Reuters Publishes Akin Gump Article on Post-COVID-19, Post-Brexit UK Foreign Direct Investment Regulations

Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence has published the article “UK foreign direct investment in a post-COVID-19, post-Brexit world,” written by Akin Gump international trade partners Jasper Helder and Chiara Klaui, counsel Daniel Lund and associate Isabel Foster as well as trainee solicitor Cassandra Padget. The article looks at proposals under the UK’s National Security and Investment Bill 2019-20 “to strengthen the government's powers of intervention where foreign investments pose a national security risk.”

As a result of the legislation, which is expected to take effect by the first quarter of next year, the authors write that national security considerations in the future “will be a key part of deal strategy, in particular for financial institutions supporting overseas acquirers.” COVID-19, they say has pushed national security to the top of the legislative agenda. As a result, “overseas investors and their advisors looking to invest in potentially sensitive UK entities and assets should prepare for this to have a significant impact on deal timelines.”

Post-Brexit, the authors add, the United Kingdom “will have even more flexibility to introduce targeted national security measures,” which could include revisions to its export and import licensing framework, the introduction of a UK “Entity List” and a greater focus on national security in the government’s agenda than in previous years.

To read the article in full, please click here.