FIRRMA Affects Cross-Border Opinions

The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (”FIRRMA”) has caused changes to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (”CFIUS”) process that is currently used to evaluate and address national security-related concerns in connection with foreign investment into the United States. These reforms dramatically increase the scope of transactions subject to CFIUS, mandate pre-clearance for covered transactions, and provide significantly expanded penalties for non-compliance. At least until CFIUS issues new regulations that are contemplated by FIRRMA, much of the impact and effect of the reforms are not known. Pending the issuance of the regulations, many lawyers are expressly excluding CFIUS issues from their opinion letters.