Australia to toughen foreign investment laws citing national security

Australia will strengthen its rules around foreign investment including additional powers to change the terms of an achievement by an overseas entity if it threatens national security, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer announced on Friday.

The new rules are being launched at a time of increased concern that Australian companies are vulnerable to opportunistic takeovers as the coronavirus crisis hits the Australian share market. Under the new rules, the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) will screen all deals in which a foreign investor buys an interest in a sensitive national security business regardless of the value of the acquisition, according to a treasury document seen by Reuters.