Foreign investment (FI) regimes have been, and are expected to remain, at unprecedented levels. This year, multiple European countries — including Belgium, the Netherlands, and soon Sweden — introduced or strengthened their FI rules. This trend is set to continue into 2024, with all EU member states currently without FI screening tools having announced plans to adopt similar legislation.
In other regions, including Latin America, south-east Asia and the Middle East and north Africa, investment screening mechanisms remain rare. However, given the current geopolitical climate, we expect increased scepticism towards FI. Singapore, for example, has already commenced a legislative process to introduce a FI regime. ‘Early adopters’ will likely create a domino effect, particularly for countries with shared ideologies.
