Wednesday, February 17, 2021
This alert addresses recent developments relating to former President Trump s executive orders on Chinese Military Companies that affect both investors in covered securities and exporters.
OFAC s Frequent Asked Questions
On November 12, 2020, former President Trump issued an executive order ( EO ), pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999, as amended ( NDAA ), prohibiting U.S. persons from investing in publicly traded securities of any person designated by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the Treasury as a Communist Chinese military company ( Chinese Military Company ). See our analysis of the Nov. 12 EO
here. Since then, the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act ( 2021 NDAA ) was enacted into law, the EO was amended, the list of Chinese Military Companies expanded, and frequently asked questions promulgated.
GL 1A does
not authorize any transactions involving covered securities of entities listed on OFAC s Non-SDN Communist Chinese Military Companies List (NS-CCMC List) as a subsidiary of a business entity already determined to be a Chinese Military Company.
Expansion of the Definition of the Chinese Military Company
On January 1, 2021, the 2021 NDAA was enacted into law (available
here, the revisions discussed in this alert are in Sec. 1260 H. [pp. 578-79]). The 2021 NDAA significantly expands the definition of Chinese Military Company to include Chinese entities that are identified as military-civil fusion contributors. As revised, the definition of Chinese Military Company includes any entity (natural persons are specifically excluded) that is: