The National Investment & Security Act 2021: the story so far

• The key trends that have emerged in the last year in relation to the enforcement of the National Investment and Security Act 2021, including the nature of sanctions imposed and the sectors most under scrutiny.

January 2025 marked the third anniversary of the UK National Investment and Security Act 2021 (NSIA 2021). In this article, we take stock of the key trends that have emerged particularly in the last year, and we look at anticipated developments for 2025. We also provide a brief overview of the increasing array of US trade and investment regulatory regimes and activities—most notably under the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) regime—that may affect deals having nexus to both sides of the Atlantic.

A standard consideration

The potentially far-reaching nature of the regime—with, among others, 17 broadly drafted ‘mandatory’ sectors, a high number of transaction structures potentially falling