The US anticipates a fast-track initiative to streamline foreign investment to go live early next year, a senior Treasury official has said.
The timeline comes more than a year after the Treasury Department announced its intent to launch the Known Investor Programme to facilitate investment from US allies and partners, and streamline the review process for frequent filers.
“We're in the pilot phase right now,” Chris Pilkerton, assistant secretary for investment security at the Treasury department, told The National at the G20 finance gathering in North Carolina.
Under this initiative, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States can collect information from foreign investors before a filing.
“What that programme will allow us to do is essentially do a super deep due diligence on folks that are frequent filers,” Mr Pilkerton said.
“When you look at a transaction for CFIUS, you've got the parties that make the transaction, and then the actual terms of the transaction itself. So, if I can focus on the second part of that, because I already know who's making the transaction, it'll make the process faster and more efficient.”
The initiative comes as President Donald Trump's administration actively seeks foreign investment. The administration said it has secured more than $5 trillion in total economic commitments, including a $1.4 trillion tech investment framework with the UAE, $1.2 trillion from Qatar and $1 trillion from Saudi Arabia.
Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed new foreign direct investment totalled $232.2 billion last year, an increase of $76.8 billion on 2024.
CFIUS was established in 1975 to review foreign investments and protect US national security. It can recommend the President to suspend or prohibit transactions that could threaten US national security.
Review processes can be voluntary, although firms that participate in it can receive a can receive “safe harbour” protection into the future once CFIUS approves the transaction. Filings are mandatory if a foreign government acquires a “substantial interest” in a business involved in critical technology.
Participants in the pilot programme are confidential and were selected according to criteria including geographic diversity and frequency of filing.
Depending on the type of transaction, the process can take several weeks or months.
Mr Pilkerton said that while the new initiative would not “formally change the timetable”, the department hoped it would help move things along more speedily.
“We do think it'll bring a lot of efficiency,” he said.
Mr Pilkerton said the initiative had so far been well received, and the department was spending time with US partners to help them make their CFIUS-like programmes more robust.
“We want to be able to share those best practices, and we do that on a routine basis,” he said.
