Skip to main content
  • Competition Law / International Trade
Read in Japanese

Expansion of Business Sectors Subject to Investment Screening in Japan for the Purpose of Securing Stable Supply Chains

On March 9, 2023, the Ministry of Finance and competent ministries released, among other documents, draft amendments to the public notices concerning the Japanese government security screening system for certain investments and other activities made or conducted by foreign investors, whereby subject business sectors will be added (“Draft Public Notices”).  The public comment procedure for the Draft Public Notices has begun and will end on April 7.  Accordingly, this Newsletter provides a brief outline of the Draft Public Notices.  While the basic principle of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (the “FEFTA”) is free investment, the FEFTA requires, from the viewpoint of implementing minimum control and coordination based on the national security, that prior-notification be filed with the Ministry…To read the article, please see the PDF file

 

It is also available in PDF.
Competition Law / International Trade Newsletter (March 30, 2023) Download PDF [273 KB]

Authors

桜田 雄紀

He served as Director for Foreign Direct Investment Issues at the Ministry of Finance of Japan for three years from 2019 to 2022. During his tenure, he was the chief architect and strategist of the amendment of the FEFTA in 2020, where the threshold for prior mandatory notification for the acquisition of listed company shares by foreign investors was lowered from 10% to 1%. After the enactment of the amendment, he was in charge of reviewing the scope of designated business for the mandatory notification (addition of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment for communicable diseases, and critical mineral resource-related industries), strengthening the operation of screening and post-transaction monitoring, and strengthening cooperation in investment screening with relevant authorities of like-minded countries, including CFIUS of the U.S. He was also engaged in the planning and drafting of the revision of the FEFTA in 2022 (related to crypto assets) and the prohibition of new investment in Russia in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He is the co-author of a section-by-section commentary on FDI screening under the FEFTA (“Sho-kai Gaitame-hou, Inward Direct Investment and Specified Acquisition Edition” (Shoji Homu, June 2021). He was also a speaker at webinars on FDI screening for government officials of member countries organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

May 2021 – Webinar on Transparency, Predictability and Accountability for investment screening mechanisms
May 2022 – Regulatory proportionality of investment screening mechanisms