Foreign Ownership of U.S. Real Estate: Increased Government Scrutiny, Administrative Obligations, and Penalties

Ms. Black advises clients, including funds and multinational corporations, on investment screening within a broader national security context and provides strategic guidance and planning. She also provides counsel on matters, including international investment risks, multijurisdictional reviews of transactions, cross-border mergers and acquisitions and emerging policy issues involving outbound investments by U.S. entities. Ms. Black joined the firm after serving 15 years at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she was most recently the first Director of Policy and International Relations of CFIUS. During her tenure at CFIUS, Ms. Black was the chief drafter of and led the process for scoping, drafting and finalizing the full set of regulations implementing the FIRRMA, the first expansion of CFIUS authority in three decades. She has played a leading role in the development of other investment regimes both within and outside the U.S. Ms. Black was actively involved in the development of proposals for a widely anticipated regulatory program for outbound U.S. investment in critical industry sectors.

Mr. Davis’ practice focuses on U.S. law and policy affecting international trade and business. He advises clients on foreign investment, export controls, sanctions, anticorruption, and customs laws. Mr. Davis’ practice focuses on representing clients in the merger, acquisition and divestiture process before the CFIUS and on accounting for associated risks. He also advises clients in negotiating and implementing CFIUS mitigation agreements, developing and administering international trade compliance programs .and conducting internal investigations. 

Ms. Padgett’s practice focuses on a variety of international trade matters, including CFIUS reviews, export controls, economic sanctions, national security and litigation strategy in international investment and arbitration. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Padgett successfully served for nine years in the Office of the Legal Adviser (L) at the U.S. Department of State, including as the department’s lead CFIUS lawyer and principal lawyer on international investment matters. Additionally, she represented the State Department in interagency policy-making processes and worked closely with senior officials at the NSC, USTR, the departments of Justice, Defense, Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security, and other federal agencies. Ms. Padgett was instrumental in advising State Department principals on CFIUS national security reviews of transactions, mitigation agreements, litigation strategy and congressional inquiries. She advised policy clients, including officials in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, on compliance issues under the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), including in connection with foreign military sales and export licenses for direct commercial sales.