ON 11 NOVEMBER 2020 THE UK GOVERNMENT PUBLISHED ITS NATIONAL SECURITY AND INVESTMENT BILL. IF THE BILL IS ENACTED AND COMES INTO FORCE IN SUBSTANTIALLY ITS CURRENT FORM (WHICH SEEMS VERY LIKELY), IT WILL PROVIDE THE GOVERNMENT WITH WIDE-RANGING POWERS TO INTERVENE IN TRANSACTIONS ON NATIONAL SECURITY GROUNDS AND, IN RELATION TO CERTAIN KEY SECTORS, WILL REQUIRE MANDATORY PRE-CLEARANCE.

The Bill reflects the Government White Paper published in July 2018 with some significant changes; in particular, the mandatory notification regime for transactions in certain sectors.

The Government’s intervention powers will apply retrospectively to transactions which complete after 11 November 2020, although the mandatory notification/clearance regime will apply only after the bill comes into force (the date for which is not yet known).

View this Alert.