House Committee on Financial Services Approves CFIUS Reform Bill
The House Committee on Financial Services has unanimously (64-0) approved H.R. 5337 the National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act of 2006 ("National Security FIRST Act"), legislation that would reform the process by which the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) reviews acquisitions of US companies by foreign companies under the Exon-Florio provision of U.S. law. Among other things, H.R. 5337 would make the following changes to the CFIUS review process:
- Require an additional 45-day review period when the acquiring company is controlled by a foreign government;
- Require signatures by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Homeland Security or their deputy secretaries on all transactions;
- Require an analysis of any potential threat on each transaction by the Director of National Intelligence;
- Establish a process to monitor and enforce post transaction compliance with mitigation agreements;
- Ensure that all appropriate factors are considered by CFIUS and add "critical infrastructure" as a factor;
- Require CFIUS to conduct roll call votes;
- Require the President’s approval if there is a single dissent on a decision after the investigation;
- The bill would provide additional funding to CFIUS.
Labels: CFIUS
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
