According to a recent report issued by the department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Investment Security Unit (ISU) received 222 notifications in the first three months of the UK’s new National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA) coming into force. Of these notifications, 17 were called in for further assessment.
This report was quickly followed by Market Guidance Notes, issued on 19 July 2022, providing clarity on key aspects of the regime based on the first six months of the operation of the NSIA. The government also updated its guidance and information document in August and September, including a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and BEIS.
Using our experience of assisting clients to navigate through the notification process and obtain clearance for their transactions, we have set out our key observations and lessons learned here.