US moves to hike maximum fines to $5 million for making false statements to CFIUS
Source: Reuters
April 11, 2024 6:00 PM EDT
WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - The Biden administration is proposing to raise to $5 million the maximum fine it can impose for making misstatements to CFIUS, a powerful U.S. committee that screens foreign investments in the United States for national security risks, a senior Treasury official said on Thursday.
The penalty ceiling for that violation currently stands at $250,000. The Treasury Department, which leads the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), announced plans to increase limits in a press release on Thursday.
"When somebody lies to the Committee, that matters, sometimes to a greater degree than $250,000 can deter" the official said, briefing reporters on the rules proposal on Thursday afternoon. Axios was first to report the change in dollar amount.
The proposal is a sign of CFIUS's increasing focus on enforcement. The Committee issued enforcement guidelines in late 2022 and its first-ever publicly announced penalties of $1 million in 2018 and $750,000 in 2019. If finalized, the new rules would also allow CFIUS to issue subpoenas to third parties not involved in CFIUS-reviewed transactions in order to evaluate national security risks arising from transactions that were not formally reported to the committee.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-moves-hike-max-fines-5-mln-breaking-national-security-rules-source-2024-04-11/
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