The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is an interagency committee charged with reviewing certain transactions involving foreign investment in the United States to determine whether the transactions will impact the national security of the United States. The Treasury Department chairs CFIUS and the committee includes representatives from 16 federal executive departments and agencies.
In recent years, CFIUS has increased its focus on enforcement and in 2023 and to date in 2024 has issued three times more penalties than it had since its establishment nearly 50 years ago.
Treasury unveiled a new website which includes detailed information about all of the civil monetary penalties imposed by CFIUS over the last few years. The new website describes the nature of the conduct that gave rise to the penalty as well as aggravating and mitigating factors and includes three new sections: CFIUS enforcement, CFIUS mitigation, and CFIUS non-notified transactions
CFIUS Enforcement
The CFIUS enforcement section provides information on the latest CFIUS priorities and details what actions the Committee is taking to strengthen compliance and enforcement. The page also lists several enforcement actions that involved monetary penalties and outlines the details of the violation, the penalty, and any mitigating factors. For example, in 2024, CFIUS imposed a 60-million-dollar penalty against T-Mobile.
CFIUS Mitigation
The new CFIUS mitigation section provides details on CFIUS staffing and resources. The page details how staff is designated to negotiate, monitor, and enforce active mitigation agreements, conditions, and orders. The page also details how designated compliance personnel may be utilized within a mitigated entity.
CFIUS Non-Notified Transactions
The non-notified transactions page details when CFIUS may take steps to initiate a review of non-notified transactions. The page also details the range of sources the Committee uses to identify these transactions including the public, media reports, and commercial databases. Finally, the page lists the type of information Treasury welcomes from members of the public.
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