This week, the UK joined (almost not the only) country in tightening foreign investment.Like similar regulations in the United States and China, the British National Security and Investment Law It is broad and vague.

It presents the transaction 17 industries Accept political censorship; those who fail to meet certain standards will be prevented or remedied.The transaction has been completed, just like what happened with a dating app in the United States Grinding machine And its Chinese buyers were caught in a trawl net. The same is true for intra-company transactions and foreign-to-foreign transactions, as long as business activities affect the UK.

The Mandarin responsible for reviewing hypothetical transactions can be very busy. The government expects to receive as many as 1,800 notifications each year, or 36 notifications per week.Any investment banker obligated to deal with U.S. Foreign Investment Council The following can be explained: glacier delays and hastily recruited junior staff.

One might easily view this increasingly stringent scrutiny as contrary to the UK. Rank Listed by the OECD as one of the countries with the least restrictions on foreign direct investment, there is almost no protectionism. But the UK feels obligated to comply with global security trends while seeking foreign investment. Therefore, just 14 months before NSIL became law, the Investment Office was established and has so far attracted 18 billion pounds of investment.

Regrettably, foreign investment does not conform to domestic industrial policies. Inevitably, the areas that trigger scrutiny-robotics, artificial intelligence, data infrastructure-are the areas that buyers are most interested in.A cynical person may further blame China for its strength in the field Terrified the people in WashingtonIn any case, it is unlikely to sneak away from the UK.

Past transactions in sensitive areas illustrate the appeal.Consolidated China’s ownership of shares in nuclear power plants in the golden age of Sino-British relations, and now Because to untie. Nvidia’s proposal to acquire chip designer Arm has regulatory agencies around the world Crawl through this deal.

However, precedents show that it is often economic problems that cause gnashing of foreign buyers.California-based Viasat is able to continue its $7.3 billion acquisition British satellite company Inmarsat has pledged to continue investing in the country.Cobham, which is controlled by Advent in the United States, has secured employment opportunities as part of its £2.6 billion offer to Ultra Electronics. Under reviewThe wide-ranging new powers in the UK may help obtain similar promises, rather than prevent transactions.