Milbank LLP partner John Beahn was quoted in the Global Competition Review article “CFIUS Set to Gain Biggest Boost to Powers Since 2018.” The article discusses the US Department of the Treasury’s proposal to grant the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) enhanced access to information and penalty powers to better address national security concerns.
Mr. Beahn, who focuses on Global Risk & National Security in Milbank’s Washington, DC office, said, “the tight timeframe for responding to mitigation measures might cause companies to proactively propose such terms much earlier in the review process than they previously did.” He also noted, “the increased enforcement penalties will “undoubtedly” heighten the focus on determining whether a deal in certain sensitive sectors could trigger CFIUS’s mandatory filing requirements.”
Mr. Beahn, who has extensive experience representing clients in national security reviews before CFIUS, the “Team Telecom” executive branch agencies and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, said that although CFIUS has issued various updates and guidelines in recent years, is has become clear from this latest proposal that the CFIUS “wanted to signal to the marketplace that enforcement is here to stay.” According to Mr. Beahn, “foreign investors may now also require greater documentation from US businesses regarding export control classifications, since that is the key driver of filing requirements.”
Mr. Beahn has represented clients in some of the most complex transactions approved by CFIUS, DCSA and Team Telecom and has negotiated several of the most comprehensive mitigation agreements executed with the US government.
Click here to read the full article in Global Competition Review.
