美国外国投资委员会国家安全审查的特点与最新趋势

Characteristics and New Trends of CFIUS National Security Review

本文从美国外国投资委员会(CFIUS)的审查对象、审查标准和审查过程三方面入手,分析了美国国家安全审查机制。CFIUS对审查对象的界定具有以下特征:注重考察并购方企业的控制权情况;"重要事项"是决定一笔交易是否成为审查对象的关键概念;关注被并购方在美国的跨州商业活动等。从审查标准来看,CFIUS的审查从多方面体现了美国的国家安全战略,如关注经济安全,追求引入国外直接投资和经济安全之间的平衡,在保证国防安全前提之下追求经济安全等。CFIUS的审查过程包括多个值得重视的步骤,投资企业需要理解这些步骤的设置目的并加以利用。中国企业在对美直接投资时,更应该结合自身特点,并根据CFIUS的审查对象、审查标准和审查过程有针对性地采取策略。

This article analyzes the key CFIUS clauses and main characteristics of CFIUS national safety review.First,in term of coverage,the CFIUS pays much attention to the definition of 'control' by the buyer enterprise,and whether a transaction should be subject to national security review depends on the crucial term of 'important matters'.However,the criteria of 'important matters' are not objective and may damage the interest of investors.Second,seen from the criteria of the review,the CFIUS review is part of the US national security strategy and shares some characteristics with the overall national security strategy,such as focus on economic safety,balance between FDI encouragement and national economic security,and priority of national security while pursuing economic security.Third,the CFIUS review concerns some important concepts,such as key infrastructure,key technology,State enterprise and sensitive region.Potential investors should understand the CFIUS review process and make good use of the review to facilitate their investment behavior.For Chinese enterprises,they should take targeted measures based on the coverage,criteria and process of the review to make their investment in line with the US national security check.