🚨🚨 New (or at least new to the public) CFIUS case - US blocked Chinese company from acquiring a fertility clinic in San Diego. A few quick thoughts, based on this great in-depth reporting from CNBC here 1/ cnbc.com/2020/10/16/tru…
First, CFIUS secrecy remains a real challenge. CFIUS notes this happened "sometime during the Trump admin", but won't say when. Don't know who the acquiring company or the target was. So we have official sources confirming something happened but can't say what or when... 2/
That said, this report does have more than we normally get, which is a DOJ CFIUS official talking in general terms about, hypothetically, why action would be justified in this type of case. It's a small step toward public engagement, which is welcome 3/
They highlight two concerns with Chinese access to genetic info of Americans:
1) Sensitive info could be used as leverage in intelligence targeting (ie recruiting spies)
2) At scale, genetic info could help inform development of biologic weapons 4/
1) Sensitive info could be used as leverage in intelligence targeting (ie recruiting spies)
2) At scale, genetic info could help inform development of biologic weapons 4/
The article notes there is already a lot of Chinese investment in US fertility labs, as Chinese clients have become important customers. It's not clear to me what's different about this particular transaction, ie why this one was blocked and others weren't 5/
Finally, article also suggests CFIUS is working to distinguish "legitimate business deals" from security risks. I'm not sure this distinction really makes sense, and suggests a focus on rooting out 'nefarious' actors more than evaluating complex risks 6/
In any case though, this case is another data point showing how CFIUS is pivoting to increasingly focus on data privacy and technology questions (and China, of course), alongside Tik Tok, Grindr, Moneygram, Stay N Touch - and probably many more we've never heard of... 7/7
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