National Security and Investment Bill introduced in Commons
Wednesday, 11 November 2020 21:52
The National Security and Investment Bill was introduced in the
House of Commons today. Bill Summary To make provision for the
making of orders in connection with national security risks arising
from the acquisition of control over certain types of entities and
assets; and for connected purposes. Overview of the Bill 1. The
Bill will establish a new statutory regime for Government scrutiny
of, and intervention in, investments for the purposes of protecting
national security. The regime...Request free trial
The National Security and Investment Bill was introduced in the
House of Commons today.
Bill Summary
To make provision for the making of orders in connection with
national security risks arising from the acquisition of control
over certain types of entities and assets; and for connected
purposes.
Overview of the Bill
1. The Bill will establish a new statutory regime for Government
scrutiny of, and intervention in, investments for the purposes of
protecting national security. The regime makes provision for:
a. a power to issue “call-in” notices that the Secretary of State
may use to call in acquisitions of control over qualifying entities
or assets (“trigger events”) to undertake a national security
assessment whether or not they have been notified to the
Government;
b. the Secretary of State to publish a statement on how he expects
to use the power to give a call-in notice;
c. a mandatory notification system requiring proposed acquirers of
certain shares or voting rights in specified qualifying entities to
obtain clearance from the Secretary of State for their acquisitions
before they take place;
d. powers which enable the Secretary of State to amend by
regulations the acquisitions which fall within scope of the
mandatory notification system;
e. a voluntary notification system which is intended to encourage
notifications from parties who consider that their trigger event
may raise national security concerns;
f. the statutory process that is to be used to assess specific
trigger events for national security concerns;
g. remedies to address risks to national security, sanctions for
non-compliance with the regime and the mechanism for legal
challenge; and
h. interaction with the Competition and Markets Authority.
2 In addition, clause 59 of the Bill amends the overseas disclosure
gateway in the Enterprise Act 2002 removing the restriction on UK
public authorities disclosing information that comes to them in
connection with a merger investigation under that gateway.
-
The Bill can be downloaded here:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-01/0210/20210.pdf
-
Explanatory notes can be downloaded here:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-01/0210/en/20210-ENS.pdf
|
