The National Security and Investment Act (“NSI Act”) came into force this week, completing the overhaul of the UK’s foreign investment rules and creating a standalone foreign investment screening regime. The new rules require businesses and investors to submit mandatory notifications for certain acquisitions of and investments in companies operating in 17 key sectors. The rules also grant the UK Government extensive powers to investigate and impose conditions on a wide range of transactions, including corporate investments as well as asset transactions, on national security grounds.

This is important for export control professionals to be aware of as they may be called upon to assist with assessments, particularly where military and dual-use assets are concerned.  

For more information on foreign investment regimes, please visit our Foreign Investment and National Security blog.

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Samantha Mobley is a partner in the EU, Competition & Trade Practice of Baker & McKenzie’s London office and a member of the London office Management Committee. She headed Baker McKenzie’s Global Antitrust and Competition Group, a team of over 300 competition and antitrust specialists worldwide for six years. Samantha has significant experience of advising on the implications of foreign direct investment rules for cross-border transactions.

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Tristan Grimmer is a partner in Baker McKenzie's London office and the UK Head of the International Trade Practice Group. He is also a member of the Compliance & Investigations and the International Trade and Competition practice groups. Tristan joined Baker McKenzie as a trainee in March 2004, qualifying in March 2006. He has advised on parallel investigations by authorities in the United States, Switzerland, Brazil and Japan, and has spent time working in Baker McKenzie's Chicago office. Tristan is named as a "Leading Individual" for EU And Competition: Trade, WTO Anti-Dumping and Customs in the UK Legal 500 2023 directory.

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Ross Evans is a Senior Associate in the EU, Competition and Trade team in London, who specializes in advising companies in the technology, telecoms, engineering, and fintech sectors on how to manage a rapidly changing landscape of competition/antitrust, trade law, and national security and investment regimes. He regularly advises clients in relation to UK public interest intervention rules and national security and investment issues, and on global foreign investment review strategy, leveraging his expertise in trade and export control laws and competition merger control regimes, and an in-depth understanding of emerging technologies.

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