The sale of advanced technology companies to foreign buyers could have a “catastrophic effect” on Britain’s security, a parliamentary report has warned.
MPs are concerned that the UK’s leading firms manufacturing highly sensitive equipment such as microchips could be sold off to foreign buyers taking both the technology and jobs out of the country.
The Foreign Affairs Committee is demanding that the government take a more robust approach in allowing foreign sales, particularly following Brexit and the vulnerabilities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
While its report welcomed the new National Security and Investment Act 2021, designed to protect businesses and critical security interests, a failure to implement it effectively “would have catastrophic effects for our global influence and security”.
Britain is seen as one of the most open countries for foreign direct investment, which helps to fuel the economy, but the report warned that acquisitions by overseas entities could move “strategically vital companies, assets and intellectual property abroad”.
This would make the country more reliant on others for critical services and undermine national security.
“Our sovereignty should not be for sale,” the report said.
It warned that foreign direct investment was increasingly being used by hostile countries to “pursue geopolitical objectives and gain strategic advantage over the UK and our allies”.
Britain had already lost some of its “most prized companies” with their sensitive intellectual property to foreign acquisition with little government intervention," it said.
“There are actors who may seek to exploit our openness, using predatory economic practices to gain leverage in critical sectors, potentially at great cost to our national security and resilience, economy and ability to innovate,” said the report titled Sovereignty for sale: the FCDO’s role in protecting strategic British assets.
With skills also moved abroad, this would cause long-term damage to the UK economy.
The report highlighted the potential takeover of Newport Wafer Fab, a company in Wales that makes key computer components, by a Chinese firm called Nexperia.
NWF is among Britain’s largest microchip manufacturing companies. It specialises in high-end silicon semiconductor chips.
“The takeover of Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia represents the sale of one of the UK’s prized assets to a strategic competitor, at a time when global chip shortages means that the products manufactured by NWF are of vital national importance”, the report said.
If the government failed to conduct a detailed assessment of the transaction under the new NSI Act this would demonstrate “an unrealistically optimistic understanding of the Chinese government’s intentions”.
The committee also warned against prioritising short-term commercial interests “over the long-term security of our country”.
It recommend that the government call in the acquisition for review and impose mitigating measures “as a matter of urgency”.
The report also highlighted the 2016 sale of the Cambridge-based ARM technologies, a world leader in making semiconductor chips for companies such as Apple and Huawei, to a Japanese company that last year sold it on to Nvidia, a US company, for $40 billion.
ARM employs 6,000 people in Britain and is a powerhouse for technology yet the sale was condemned by its co-founder, Hermann Hauser. “It is very much in Nvidia’s interest to kill ARM,” he said, calling the sale an “absolute disaster” which would lead to UK job losses.
“It is crucial that the government gets the new investment screening regime right from the beginning - both to ensure that UK national security is protected and that we remain firmly open to valuable foreign investment,” the MPs’ report concluded.
Company%20profile
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Company%C2%A0profile
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Pros%20and%20cons%20of%20BNPL
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.