On October 28, 2024, the US Treasury Department (“Treasury”) issued a long-anticipated final rule (“Final Rule”)—effective January 2, 2025—implementing a targeted outbound investment compliance regime called for by Executive Order (“EO”) 14105 issued by President Biden on August 9, 2023. The Final Rule applies to investments by, or in some circumstances directed by, US Persons in Chinese businesses involving specified categories of technologies — namely: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).…
As regulations evolve and enforcement intensifies, effective documentation of sanctions investigation results has never been more critical. Proper documentation is crucial not only for maintaining legal privileges and the confidentiality of sensitive information, but also for supporting legal defenses in potential regulatory enforcement in the future. Additionally, companies may have an obligation to disclose investigation results to their external auditors, shareholders, and other stakeholders (e.g., transaction counterparties), underscoring the importance of appropriate documentation to ensure…
On June 18, 2024, Baker McKenzie, in partnership with the International Compliance Professionals Association, hosted a virtual fireside chat with Lawrence Scheinert, the Associate Director for Compliance and Enforcement at the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) in the US Treasury Department. The webinar attracted 1640 registrations from across industry, with participants raising a wide variety of questions. In the discussion with Baker McKenzie partners, led by Julia Webster (Toronto) with questions from Janet Kim…
On June 21, 2024, the US Treasury Department (“Treasury”) issued a much-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”)—pursuant to Executive Order (“EO”) 14105 of August 9, 2023, “Addressing United States Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern”—regarding the upcoming outbound investment review regime, which prohibits or, alternatively, requires notification of certain investments into entities linked to China and engaged in subsets of three specified technologies (semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies,…