[JURIST] The US Department of the Treasury issued proposed regulations [PDF text; press release] Monday designed to implement the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 [PDF text; HR 556 materials]. In January, US President George W. Bush issued an executive order [text; JURIST report] similarly designed to implement the Act, which expands the investigative scope of the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) [official website] to include foreign infrastructure and energy investments and adds an additional 45-day review of proposed acquisitions from foreign state-owned entities. A 45-day public comment period on the proposed regulations will begin later this week after the regulations are officially published in the Federal Register.

The law, passed by Congress [JURIST report] in July 2007, stems from congressional criticism [JURIST report] of a proposed acquisition by United Arab Emirates-owned Dubai Ports World [corporate website] that would have allowed the company to manage six major US ports in early 2006. The deal eventually fell through [JURIST report], but prompted Congress to pass the legislation to increase scrutiny of foreign investment proposals. AP has more.