FOREIGN INVESTORS seeking to buy into sensitive US assets will be required to submit personal information about previous military and government service, under new rules for vetting acquisitions.
The information about board directors, senior executives and large shareholders of foreign companies would be submitted to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (Cfius), the inter-agency panel that vets cross-border deals for national security concerns.
The rule could be especially relevant for Chinese investors, given US concerns about ties between Chinese groups and former officers in the People's Liberation Army.
In one recent case, a joint bid by Bain Capital and Huawei of China for 3Com, the US technology group, was scrapped after it became clear that the transaction would not be given approval by Cfius.
Among concerns voiced by members of Congress were questions about the relationship between Huawei and the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
Huawei has said it has no connection to the Chinese military. However, its founder, Ren Zhengfei, was a former soldier in the PLA.
The US treasury said the personal data would, for privacy reasons, be viewed by a limited number of people and held separately from the standard regulatory filing foreign groups submit when seeking approval for a sensitive acquisition in the US.
- (Financial Times service)
