Brandon Van Grack spoke to fDi Intelligence about the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which has extended its reach far beyond U.S. borders, affecting mergers that have limited links to the country.
"CFIUS intends to use whatever tools it has to further assert U.S. national security interests, even if it never before acknowledged such tools existed," Brandon said. "That toolbox now includes the ability to assert jurisdiction over transactions taking place largely outside of and with a very limited nexus to the U.S."
Brandon noted that prior to the passage of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA), CFIUS defined a U.S. business as "any entity, irrespective of the nationality of the persons that control it, engaged in interstate commerce in the U.S., but only to the extent of its activities in interstate commerce." When CFIUS published its new rules following FIRRMA, however, the phrase "but only to the extent of its activities in interstate commerce" was left out, widening the scope of its application.
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