WireScreen Insights

The WireScreen Investigative Playbook

A Journalist’s Guide to Uncovering Corporate Networks

The COINS Act and the New Era of Outbound Investment Controls

The landscape of American capital flow has fundamentally shifted with the passage of the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act of 2025 (the “COINS Act”), signed into law on December 18, 2025, as part of the FY 2026 NDAA. This legislation transitions the U.S. “Reverse-CFIUS” regime from a temporary executive measure into a permanent, statutory pillar of national security.

National Security Meets the Deed Book: The Rise of Foreign Adversary Restrictions in State Property Laws

A review of 23 U.S. state laws reveals a diverse array of ownership tracing strategies for prohibiting “foreign adversaries” from owning or holding interests in real estate.

Shell Games and Power Maps

Decoding the filings that hide billions and redraw the balance of power

Lifting the Veil on Corporate Power

A Roadmap of China’s National Security Laws

A review of China’s national security framework reveals 16 officially designated “key” laws and 17 supporting regulations, predominantly brand new or thoroughly reimagined amid Xi’s Jinping’s New Era of National Security.

The Essential Database of Chinese Companies

In January, DeepSeek AI emerged from obscurity to surprise the tech world. The Chinese company, founded by Liang Wenfeng, introduced a generative-AI model that rivaled OpenAI’s ChatGPT—highlighting the scale and complexity of China’s fast-moving tech and corporate landscape.

Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain (the “ICTS Supply Chain Rules”)

The Department of Commerce leads the most advanced application to date of ownership tests for national security purposes. Foreign adversary nexus through offshore entities, special shares, proxies, dominant minorities, persons financed or subsidized, parties acting in concert, and persons subject to orders or requests are all targets under the ICTS Supply Chain Rules.

China’s Corporate Records: The Untapped Goldmine

Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 (“PADFAA”)

PADFAA is the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) counterpart to the Department of Justices’ (“DOJ”) Access to U.S. Sensitive Personal Data and Government-related Data by Countries of Concern or Covered Persons (the “Bulk Data Rules”). While both regimes target China, PADFAA is more narrowly tailored to focus on “data brokers” but without any bulk quantity thresholds. Borrowing from the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the “TikTok Act”), PADFAA adopts the “headquarters” test to identify these parties, necessitating detailed ownership data analysis for its enforcement.

Beyond CFIUS: The Executive Order on Investment Policy and China

The White House is moving swiftly to strengthen U.S. economic security controls by taking a decisive approach to regulating bi-directional capital flows between the U.S. and China. The America First Investment Policy will require more advanced data tools for both enforcers and affected entities to determine what qualifies as “PRC-affiliated.”

The Exponential Reach of OFAC's 50 Percent Rule

The Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) division of the Department of the Treasury requires compliance with respect to all “Specially Designated Nationals” (“SDNs”), whether they are published by OFAC or derived through application of OFAC’s “50 Percent Rule”(so-called “unlisted SDNs”). This blog explains the mechanical operation of the 50 Percent Rule to illustrate its exponential reach.

New U.S. Controls on Data Transactions with China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba

On January 8, 2025, the DOJ finalized regulations that will prohibit or restrict all U.S. persons from engaging in data transactions with adversary countries, their companies and personnel. Under the headline of controlling “sensitive personal data” in “bulk” and government data, the details reveal that certain data sets trigger the controls in a very wide variety of scenarios not always intuitively sensitive or in mass quantities, presenting traps for the unwary. In addition, due to the DOJ’s adoption of OFAC’s exponential “50 Percent Rule”, enforcement and compliance will require extensive corporate ownership mapping.

Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (“PAFACA”)

On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order effectively granting TikTok, Inc. a 75-day stay from the enforcement of PAFACA. This follows: (1) the enforcement of PAFACA regarding TikTok starting on January 19, 2025 and (2) the Supreme Court’s decision on January 17, 2025 to affirm (on data collection grounds) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision on December 6, 2024 that rejected TikTok’s challenges to PAFACA.

The New Era of Export and US Person Controls for Military, Military Support, Intelligence, and Foreign Security End-Users

On July 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau for Industry and Security issued two sets of proposed rules to expand the scope of the military end-use/end-user and U.S. person controls aspects of the Export Administration Regulations.

The Top Companies Behind the Rare Earth Industry

Rare earth metals are critical to many green energy technologies, including the development of electric vehicles. And for decades, China has played a dominant role in mining, processing and producing them at scale. Beijing has also begun restricting access to them, for trade and diplomatic reasons. The world is now taking note, and looking for alternatives.

U.S. to Impose Reverse CFIUS on China

Corporates, PE/VC funds, limited partners, and senior individuals are regulated by an evasion-resistant framework blocking a host of investment strategies including variable interest entities, offshore structures, multi-tiered investments, and certain planned investment activities.

The Top Companies Behind the EV Battery Supply Chain

Since 2016, demand for li-ion batteries in the automotive sector has exploded, roughly doubling every two years. Going forward, experts are forecasting 20 to 30 percent growth each year through 2030. Meeting this demand is no simple task. It requires the coordination of a complex, globe-spanning, and still often highly concentrated supply chain, filled with chokepoints and geopolitical tensions.

Regulating A.I. through the Supply Chain

The United States has significantly intensified export controls with the aim of curbing China's advancement in artificial intelligence. This involves the adaptation or enhancement of longstanding export regulations to effectively navigate the increasingly global landscape of advanced equipment. This article marks the second part of a series exploring the implementation of these enhanced export controls and their impact.

How the U.S. Targets China's Military-Civil Fusion Efforts

In recent years, China’s Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) strategy has taken center stage, showcasing the country’s efforts to improve its military capabilities by tapping technologies developed in the commercial sector.

The Top Companies Behind the Semiconductor Supply Chain

From over $500 billion today, semiconductors are expected to be a $1 trillion industry within a decade. Behind these eye-grabbing figures lies one of the most complex supply chains in the world, with major economies and hundreds of companies vying for a piece of the trillion dollar pie.

Seagate's $300M Lesson

U.S. regulators are tightening export control rules with a powerful new tool called the Foreign Produced Direct Product Rule.

The U.S. Fight Against Forced Labor

The Uyghur Forced Labor and Prevention Act (UFLPA) ushers in an unprecedented shift in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement. Multinationals need better tools to manage their supply chains.