The UK's New National Security and Investment Regime: Cutting Through the Noise

The UK is introducing “gold standard” national security and investment legislation. Or is it? The Bill before Parliament is far-reaching: over 1,000 M&A deals are expected to fall within the scope of the proposed regime each year. The real figure is probably higher, with 17 industry sectors subject to mandatory notification and criminal sanctions for failure to comply. The geographic scope is broad with “foreign-to-foreign” transactions covered, for example where the target has a minority interest in a company that “carries on activities” in the UK. This is a watershed moment for M&A and regulatory enforcement in the UK and beyond.

We have an outstanding panel who will share deep insights into the legislative process and possible amendments, the purpose and challenges with the legislation, and the real-life implications for businesses engaged in M&A. With participation from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the Chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and key players within the Tech and Energy space, join us as we examine this new legislation.

SPEAKERS

Moderator: Douglas Lahnborg, Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe: Douglas represents multinational clients before the European Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority in merger control, abuse of dominance, and cartel investigations. He has acted for clients in a broad range of industries, including software, technology, telecommunications, manufacturing, consumer goods, energy, healthcare, defence and national security. He founded Orrick’s Brussels office and has been the Managing Partner of Orrick London.

Panellists:

Niall Mackenzie, Director, Consumer & Competition Policy, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS): Niall has been a Director in BEIS since August 2014 and has worked in several government Departments over the past 25 years covering a wide range of policy areas including, sport, tourism, broadcasting, gambling, health and the environment. In his current role, he is responsible for developing UK public policy on competition and consumer protection to support productivity and innovation.

Tom Tugendhat MP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee: Tom is a Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament for Tonbridge and Malling since 2015, and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee since 2017. Under Tom’s chairmanship, the Foreign Affairs Committee has been conducting an inquiry into foreign asset stripping which has involved close scrutiny of the NS&I Bill and the impact this will have on the UK’s investment regime and foreign direct investment. Before entering politics, amongst other roles, Tom was a TA officer in the British Army.

Alex van Someren, Managing Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners: Alex is Managing Partner of the Early Stage Funds at Amadeus, and he sits on the boards of several Amadeus portfolio companies. He has a current investment focus on UK deep technology including Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Cloud Computing/Enterprise SaaS, Cyber Security, Digital Healthcare, Medical Technology and Novel Materials & Quantum Technologies.

Tim Riisager, Head of Legal – Competition, Centrica: Tim is responsible for advising on a broad range of competition matters affecting Centrica’s business. Recently, he has been leading Centrica’s response on the NS&I Bill. Prior to joining Centrica, he was a competition specialist at a leading UK law firm where he advised on a wide range of public procurement and competition law matters, including cartels, dominance investigations and merger control (with a particular focus on the energy sector). Tim previously worked at Ofwat, where he advised on regulatory price controls and Competition Act investigations.