Regulations Pertaining to Mergers, Acquisitions, and Takeovers by Foreign Persons

These proposed regulations implement amendments to section 721 of title VII of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (the ``DPA''), as added by section 5021 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, relating to mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers of U.S. persons by or with foreign persons, and as amended by section 837 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993. That amendment requires that the President or his designee undertake an investigation under section 721 of certain acquisitions which could result in control of U.S. persons by foreign government controlled entities. It also expands the factors the President must consider in making a determination under section 721, modifies the existing congressional reporting requirement under section 721, and requires that any designee of the President under section 721 share with any other designee a copy of an assessment made in a particular case of the risk of diversion of a defense critical technology. These proposed regulations implement only those provisions relating to mandatory investigations, and also make a few technical and conforming changes to the existing regulations. The statutory amendments pertaining to the factors for Presidential decisionmaking and report sharing, which do not directly affect the behavior of parties filing under section 721, were deemed sufficiently straightforward not to require any implementing regulations.

This is a factual description of what was issued or decided, not an assessment of it.