Singapore's Proposed Significant Investments Review Bill – A Targeted Approach to National Security Screening

06 Nov 2023 LegisWatch

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has announced that it will introduce a new investment management regime to ensure the continuity of critical entities which are not currently adequately covered under other existing sectoral legislation.

The introduction of the Significant Investments Review Bill (SIR Bill), which is scheduled to be read for the first time in Parliament today, follows recent remarks made by Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Gan Kim Yong indicating that Singapore is exploring "new tools" to "manage significant investments into critical entities", which comes as Singapore faces “significant challenges” in the global economy. The initial details of the SIR Bill reflect a measured approach to national security screening and strike a balance between the Singapore Government's interest in regulating ownership and control of critical entities and maintaining Singapore's position as an open and investor-friendly jurisdiction.

This update outlines the key features of the SIR Bill, how it compares against other foreign investment / national security frameworks, and our initial thoughts and key takeaways.

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Ameera ASHRAF
Head – Antitrust & Competition
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e ameera.ashraf@wongpartnership.com
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CHAN Jia Hui
Partner – Antitrust & Competition
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e jiahui.chan@wongpartnership.com
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