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Australia
On March 29, 2020, temporary changes were announced to Australia’s foreign investment framework in response to concerns relating to Australia’s economic security as a result of COVID-19.
Mondial | Publication | May 12, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted global investment. Restrictions on global mobility and commerce have created an economic environment that enables opportunistic buyers the chance to acquire or invest in distressed companies. The relative low price of companies, weakened by the crisis, has made them susceptible to foreign take over. On the other hand, the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 has also made governments more sensitive to the control they have over their supply chains for critical products. As a reaction to these concerns, many governments have enacted protectionist legislation to curb foreign investment. These governments are moving quickly to protect their own vulnerable businesses and supply chains and revising their laws on foreign direct investment (FDI).
We recognize that many of your global foreign investment projects have been affected by these new regulations. In times like these, where you may face cross-border challenges, you want a global firm with familiarity with markets across the world. To help guide you through the evolving status of foreign direct investment globally, we have provided this summary of FDI in jurisdictions around the world. Please use the below links to access brief summaries of the current FDI rules, many of which have been revised in light of recent events.
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On March 29, 2020, temporary changes were announced to Australia’s foreign investment framework in response to concerns relating to Australia’s economic security as a result of COVID-19.
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On April 18, 2020, the Canadian government published a policy statement on foreign investment review and COVID-19.
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The last decade has seen a progressive relaxation of the regulatory regime governing foreign investment into China.
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In early 2019, the EU adopted Regulation 2019/452, which created a new framework for screening foreign direct investments FDI into the EU.
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France, which has had an FDI screening mechanism since 1966, has in the last two years further strengthened and clarified it through successive reforms.
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The German Government has been tightening the German law on review of foreign direct investments (FDI).
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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China remains a highly open economy to foreign investments, with only a few restrictions on businesses in the banking, insurance, securities and futures, provident fund and telecommunications sectors.
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Foreign investment in India is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
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It seems that Indonesia's FDI realization has not yet been fully affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
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The Italian response to the COVID-19 crisis includes measures to safeguard strategic sectors of the Italian economy.
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Mexico has been very active in issuing administrative resolutions, decrees and recommendations to mitigate, contain and address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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South Africa continues to remain one of the more open jurisdictions in respect of their regulation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
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Turkey has adopted many measures to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, but there is no measure directly affecting or targeting foreign direct investments or FDI.
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It has not traditionally been possible for a foreign shareholder to legally own 100 percent of an entity established "onshore" in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), outside of one of the UAE's free zones.
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