Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

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Gamal M. Abouali

Laurie Achtouk-Spivak

Murat N. Akuyev

Nicholas Amin

Lynn Ammar

Latest from Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

Full Foreign Ownership in UAE Takes Shape: Abu Dhabi and Dubai Issue First FDI Licenses

By Gamal M. Abouali, Chris Macbeth, Jad Nasr & Lynn Ammar

November 17, 2020

Abu Dhabi and Dubai have recently issued their first Foreign direct investment licenses allowing foreign investors to own up to 100% of UAE companies engaged in certain types of activities. Abu Dhabi has also recently adopted its own positive list of economic activities eligible for an FDI License in the emirate, featuring a generous total of 1586 activities across the agricultural, industrial and service sectors. These developments substantively complete the implementation, in the largest two…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

Trump Administration Bans Transactions in Securities of Military-Linked Chinese Companies: Potentially Far-Ranging Consequences Remain Unclear

By Paul Marquardt & Chase D. Kaniecki

November 13, 2020

Yesterday, President Trump issued an Executive Order [1] that will, following an initial two-month grace period and a further ten-month wind-down period in which only dispositions are permitted, prohibit U.S. persons (including citizens and U.S. legal entities acting outside the United States and foreign citizens and legal entities acting inside the United States)[2] from engaging in any transactions in publicly traded securities (debt or equity) issued by companies that the U.S. government designates as…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

UK Proposes A Mandatory, Pre-Closing National Security Regime

By Cleary Gottlieb

November 13, 2020

On November 11, the UK Government proposed a new national security screening regime that would allow the Government to intervene in “potentially hostile” foreign investments that threatened UK national security while “ensuring the UK remains a global champion of free trade and an attractive place to invest.” If approved by Parliament, the National Security and Investment Bill would introduce a mandatory and suspensory CFIUS-like regime. We expect the new regime will come into force in the first half…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

EU Trade Quarterly Summary

By Cleary Gottlieb

October 30, 2020

This trade summary provides an overview of WTO dispute settlement decisions and panel activities, and EU decisions and measures on commercial policy, customs policy and external relations, for the second quarter of 2020. If you have any questions regarding the above, do not hesitate to contact fclaprevote@cgsh.com or tmuelleribold@cgsh.com.…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

EU Foreign Direct Investment Regulation Comes Into Force

By François-Charles Laprévote, Richard Pepper, Séverine Schrameck, Aurèle Delors, Giuseppe Scassellati-Sforzolini, Francesco Iodice, Michael J. Ulmer & Mirko von Bieberstein

October 16, 2020

The EU Foreign Direct Investment Regulation came into force this week. It establishes a European framework for the screening of foreign investments into the European Union. In this memorandum we provide an overview of the legislation, and its expected practical impact on foreign investment review in the EU. Please click here to read the full alert memorandum.…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

State Department Releases Hong Kong Autonomy Act Persons Report, Starts the Clock for Foreign Financial Institutions Report

By Paul Marquardt, Chase D. Kaniecki & Samuel H. Chang

October 15, 2020

Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Department of State issued the first of two mandatory reports under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA), identifying 10 Hong Kong and mainland China officials as materially contributing to the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy (the “Section 5(a) Report”).[1] Because the same individuals were already designated on the List of Specially Designated and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”) maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

Venture Capital Investing: New NVCA Models, and New Challenges for Foreign Investors in Early-Stage U.S. Companies

By Chris Macbeth, Adam Jamal, George Taylor, Paul Marquardt, Chase D. Kaniecki, Hani Isam Bashour & William L. McRae

October 8, 2020

Between July 28, 2020 and September 1, 2020, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) released updates to its model legal documents for use in venture capital financing transactions. This memorandum will explain the changes to these model forms and some of the reasons for, and implications of, such changes. As background, the NVCA is an organization based in the U.S. whose members include venture capital firms, investors and professionals involved in investing private capital in…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

BIS Imposes Export Controls on Additional Emerging Technologies; Further Defines Scope of CFIUS Mandatory Notification Requirement

By Paul Marquardt & Chase D. Kaniecki

October 6, 2020

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule (the Final Rule) imposing export controls on additional emerging technologies pursuant to the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA).[1] We previously wrote about the process to identify and impose export controls on emerging and foundational technologies under the ECRA, as well as the steps taken in furtherance of that process to date, here.…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

OFAC and FinCEN Issue Advisories on Cyber Ransom Payments

By Alexis Collins, Chase D. Kaniecki & Samuel H. Chang

October 6, 2020

In the wake of one of the largest reported medical ransomware attacks in U.S. history,[1] the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued last week a pair of advisories to assist in efforts to combat the increasing threat of ransomware attacks and related sanctions and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance issues.[2] Like our blog post last month on the same topic, the…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

Commerce Provides Clarity on the Potential Scope of the TikTok and WeChat Bans; All Else Remains Murky

By Paul Marquardt, Chase D. Kaniecki & Nathanael Kurcab

September 22, 2020

On September 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) released for public inspection substantively identical notices[1] specifying the transactions relating to mobile applications TikTok and WeChat to be prohibited pursuant to the executive orders related to both entities issued by President Trump on August 6, 2020 (the TikTok Notice and the WeChat Notice, respectively, and together, the Notices).[2] Commerce withdrew both Notices before formal publication on September 22, presumably to address uncertainty…

Cleary International Trade and Sanctions Watch

Blog Authors

Full Foreign Ownership in UAE Takes Shape: Abu Dhabi and Dubai Issue First FDI Licenses

Trump Administration Bans Transactions in Securities of Military-Linked Chinese Companies: Potentially Far-Ranging Consequences Remain Unclear

UK Proposes A Mandatory, Pre-Closing National Security Regime

EU Trade Quarterly Summary

EU Foreign Direct Investment Regulation Comes Into Force

State Department Releases Hong Kong Autonomy Act Persons Report, Starts the Clock for Foreign Financial Institutions Report

Venture Capital Investing: New NVCA Models, and New Challenges for Foreign Investors in Early-Stage U.S. Companies

BIS Imposes Export Controls on Additional Emerging Technologies; Further Defines Scope of CFIUS Mandatory Notification Requirement

OFAC and FinCEN Issue Advisories on Cyber Ransom Payments

Commerce Provides Clarity on the Potential Scope of the TikTok and WeChat Bans; All Else Remains Murky

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