A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. United States’ legislators and policymakers have raised concerns pertaining to foreign investment by foreign sources in industries which affect national security or an essential national interest.
Foreign control can be particularly dangerous in the defense industry, where defense contractors could have access to certain sensitive military information and technology. There is an increasing body of laws and regulations which limit or prohibit foreign investment in those areas. For example, in November 2018, the Department of Treasury issued “Determination and Temporary Provisions Pertaining to a Pilot Program to Review Certain Transactions Involving Foreign Persons and Critical Technologies” as a part of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, or FIRRMA, which gives the government more authority to review deals between U.S. and foreign companies for national security concerns.
This presentation provides an overview of the governing laws and regulations on foreign investment in US industries affecting national security; examines the adequacy of the existing restrictions upon foreign investment in sectors holding defense contracts or having access to national security information; and comments on the increasingly tense bilateral relationship between the US and China and its impact on the foreign investment.
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Russell Leu
Senior Partner, Kingsfield Law Office
Russell Leu is Senior Partner for International Investments at Kingsfield Law Office. He leads the US-China Practice at the firm.
Mr. Russell Leu is a member of the Hawaii State Bar and is admitted to practice law in the state courts of Hawaii and the federal court of the District of Hawaii. Leu has resided and worked full-time in Beijing, China for the past 20 years. His previous China law practice has included serving as Special Counsel with the Beijing representative offices of the U.S. law firm of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP in the firm's China Corporate Practice Group. Prior to joining the Sheppard Mullin law firm, Mr. Leu established and served as the managing attorney and Chief Representative of the Beijing representative office of the U.S. law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister where he focused on a broad corporate China practice. After obtaining his Juris Doctorate from the University of San Francisco Law School in 1984, Russell Leu had served as the attorney Law Clerk to two federal bankruptcy judges including the Honorable Lloyd King, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in San Francisco, California and the Honorable Cameron J. Wolfe, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in Oakland, California.
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Chang Wang
Partner, Kingsfield Law Office
Chang Wang is a partner at Kingsfield Law Office. He specializes in immigration law and due diligence research.
Wang has been admitted to law practice in New York, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, and federal courts. Wang is the second Chinese ever elected to the prestigious American Law Institute (ALI). He serves on the American Bar Association (ABA) Steering Groups for Chinese Law, and Immigration and Naturalization Law. He is a member of the Civil Engagement Committee of Minnesota, Governor Mark Dayton’s Diversity and Inclusion Council. In 2017, Governor Dayton appointed Wang as a trustee of the Minnesota Zoological Board. In 2018 Chief Justice Lorie Gildea of the Minnesota Supreme Court appointed Wang as a member of the Minnesota State Board of Continuing Legal Education. Wang has published six books and numerous essays and academic papers on comparative law and U.S.-China relations.
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