Since the end of World War II, US national economic policy has favored openness to foreign direct investment. The enactment of the Exon-Florio amendment in 1988, creating the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, added potential scrutiny of foreign investments and acquisitions from the perspective of national security implications.
The broadening of CFIUS’ jurisdiction by the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 greatly increased the scope of the transactions for which CFIUS review is likely warranted by expressly adding review of critical infrastructure investments. However, FINSA did not alter the agency’s historic approach of maintaining an open foreign direct investment policy.