Month: March 2023

In 2018 the US Congress passed new legislation which significantly increased scrutiny of foreign direct investment by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The new law and a subsequent executive order have particularly serious implications for foreign investments in Silicon Valley start-ups because they lower the threshold of investments that can trigger CFIUS jurisdiction, and also expand the range of business activities that can result in CFIUS review – in particular, production of “critical technology,” involvement in “critical infrastructure,” and maintaining “sensitive personal data.” In addition, under the new law some CFIUS filings are now mandatory, with civil penalties for not making required filings.

To learn more about the implementation of the new law now in its fifth year and its implications for Japanese investors in Bay Area companies, please join the Japan Society of Northern California for a hybrid in-person and online presentation on March 14 (Tuesday) in the US and March 15 (Wednesday) in Japan. We have a great panel of experts who will share perspectives of government regulators, attorneys, and investors with our audience.

This program will cover:

• The impact of CFIUS regulations on Japanese, Chinese and other foreign investors in Silicon Valley companies
• How to know if an investment will be subject to review
• Timelines and processes for successfully completing a review
• How investors can adapt their portfolio strategy in light of CFIUS
• Examples of how specific companies have navigated the process with technology startups in the Bay Area

We are delighted to introduce David Plotinsky and Toshi Otani as our two fantastic speakers. David Plotinsky from Morgan Lewis is the former acting chief of the US Department of Justice’s Foreign Investment Review Section, who led DOJ’s work on some of the most sensitive and complex CFIUS cases, and who now represents venture capital and private equity investors and global technology companies in CFIUS and other national security issues. Toshi Otani is a Japanese venture capital investor who has been investing in Bay Area start-ups for many decades.