Peter Kaplan reports that the Senate is getting ready to take up the reform of the process by which the U.S. conducts security reviews of foreign investments (Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or "CFIUS" reform): Senators plan new bill on foreign takeover reviews (Reuters, May 10).
It sounds like this comes up next week:
Connecticut Democrat Dodd and Alabama Republican Richard Shelby said the bill was set for a committee vote on Wednesday.
The House took action earlier this year and I think they did a reasonably good job (CFIUS Reform: We Might Get Lucky - Ben Muse, Feb 19; House passes CFIUS reform legislation - Ben Muse, Mar 1). Kaplan writes that the Senate may take a different approach:
The bill is meant to be a compromise between CFIUS reform passed by the Senate last year and a more business-friendly version passed by the House in February, one source said...
The Senate version of the CFIUS reform bill approved last year drew opposition from business groups because it would have required CFIUS to notify members of Congress of pending takeovers before making a recommendation on them.
In a related story, Ian Swanson reports that the Administration released a statement today to reassure foreign investors that they were welcome - despite last year's Dubai Ports World debate, and ongoing efforts to reform the CFIUS process: Bush invites foreign investment, vows balance with national security. (The Hill, May 11)
Comments