UK national security investment bill one year on

THE whirlwind of UK politics in 2022 saw massive domestic tumult with three prime ministers, four finance ministers, not to mention major new foreign policy challenges like the Ukraine war.

However, beneath the “radar screen”, one of the key developments in the machinery of the UK government was the National Security and Investment Act (NSI) introduced on Jan 4, 2022. The legislation gives the government significant new powers to scrutinise and intervene in business transactions, such as takeovers. At the same time, it aims to provide businesses and investors with the clarity and transparency they need to do business in the United Kingdom.

The new UK measures are by no means an isolated development. Across much of Europe, and indeed the Western world, policymakers are also debating the issue of how best to update their investment regimes in light of new national security challenges, including technological, economic and geopolitical changes, which mean that reforms to public powers to scrutinise investments may well be needed much more regularly in the future. The central policy challenge is how best to combine a broadly open approach to international investment, while having appropriate security safeguards.