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Top CFIUS Official, Aimen Mir, Joins Freshfields
Former Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary and leading authority on US national security review joins Freshfields’ market-leading global regulatory practice
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, the leading law firm for global cross-border M&A, announced today that Aimen Mir, who for nearly a decade led the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, will join the firm as a partner in its expanding Washington, DC office as the leader of its CFIUS practice. Aimen will join a large global team of experienced and specialized foreign investment partners and counsel, some of whom were also enforcers before joining Freshfields.
As CFIUS Staff Chair, and then as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Investment Security at the US Department of the Treasury, Aimen served as the most senior US government career official responsible for conducting US national security reviews of foreign investment, managing the disposition of over 1,000 transactions. Aimen also played a pivotal role in shaping and/or implementing the last two major overhauls of the CFIUS review process. In addition, Aimen served as the principal US liaison to other foreign investment regulators, giving him a unique insight to foreign investment regimes around the world.
All G7 countries have recently enhanced their foreign investment regulatory regimes, broadening the scope of transactions scrutinized across the globe. In the United States, the 2018 FIRRMA legislation introduced a new mandatory filing process, and significantly increased the likelihood of CFIUS review becoming a threshold issue for cross-border transactions. Aimen brings unparalleled experience and expertise to help clients navigate this complex, and increasingly less predictable, regulatory environment.
“Aimen is the most significant hire to come out of CFIUS, and we are proud to call him our partner,” said Peter D. Lyons, US Managing Partner. “Aimen’s experience leading CFIUS will further elevate Freshfields’ position as an unmatched global leader on cross-border transactions.”
“CFIUS is increasingly important to our clients, and Aimen’s insights into the CFIUS process will be invaluable,” added Edward Braham, the Global Chair at Freshfields. “Aimen joins our world class regulatory team which ensures our clients can navigate the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape in the US and around the world.”
“Freshfields’ hallmark is its exceptional ability to navigate the most complex and critical cross-border challenges and opportunities that a company may face today,” said Aimen Mir. “I am looking forward to working with this extraordinary, collaborative team and to strengthening its deep domestic and global expertise, which already spans economic sanctions, as well as export and foreign investment controls.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a global law firm with a long-standing track record of successfully supporting the world's leading national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments on groundbreaking and business-critical mandates. Our 2,800-plus lawyers deliver results worldwide through our own offices and alongside leading local firms. Our commitment, local and multinational expertise, and business know-how means our clients rely on us when it matters most.
This appointment builds on Freshfields’ momentum from a series of high-profile hires in 2018, including most recently: Eric Mahr, former director of litigation at the US Department of Justice; Andrew Ewalt, former counsel to the director of litigation at the DOJ; and Eric Bruce, also a former high-ranking DOJ official and one of the country’s leading white-collar lawyers. Aimen Mir and these hires bolster Freshfields’ existing deep global regulatory experience.
Freshfields has advised on many of the most significant foreign investment transactions in the world, dating back to the landmark DP World/P&O transaction in 2006, and including more recently the Midea Group/Kuka AG and SoftBank Group Corp/ARM Holdings PLC transactions.
For more information contact:
In the US
Nicholle Romero
Nicholle.romero@freshfields.com
+1 212 284 4987
Gabrielle Simon
Gsimon@prosek.com
+1 203 764 2131
In the UK
Emile Abu-Shakra
Emile.abu-shakra@freshfields.com
+44 20 7785 2998
In Continental Europe
Rolf Benders
Rolf.benders@freshfields.com
+49 69 27308 812
In Asia
Adam Barty
Adam.barty@freshfields.com
+852 2846 3438