Widening the Business Sectors Subject to Prior Notification Requirements for Foreign Investment in Japanese Companies

I. Introduction
On May 27, 2019, Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Finance, and other relevant Ministries of Japan promulgated amendments to two existing public notices concerning the foreign investment in Japan (the “Amendments”). The Amendments widen the scope of the business sectors where foreign investors are required to make a notification filing to the Bank of Japan prior to making an investment. The Amendments are driven by national security concerns, particularly in relation to cyber espionage, and are intended to strengthen Japan’s national security regime by, for example, monitoring the potential for the outflow of material technologies relating Japanese national security or the undermining of material manufacturing or technology related to national defense.

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