As part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (https://bit.ly/4uS2tyG), President Trump signed into law the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act of 2025 (the "COINS Act" or the "Act") on December 18, 2025. The COINS Act codifies and expands the Outbound Investment Security Program ("OISP") established by Executive Order 14105 (https://bit.ly/3S8p8Z7) on August 9, 2023 ("EO 14105").
EO 14105 was implemented after several failed attempts to come up with a legislative approach to outbound investment screening. The COINS Act puts Congress' imprint on that program, and as a result provides the Treasury Department with insight into congressional priorities in this expanding area of regulation.
The U.S. Department of Treasury ("Treasury") must issue implementing regulations on or before March 13, 2027. Until Treasury issues regulations implementing the COINS Act, the OISP remains in effect. Treasury may provide periodic guidance regarding the COINS Act rulemaking process in the interim, and can issue regulations ahead of the congressionally mandated schedule.
The passage of the COINS Act culminated a multi-year effort in Congress to enact legislation establishing an outbound investment screening program that began in conjunction with the combined enactment of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act ("FIRRMA"), which updated the laws and regulations under which the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") operates, and the Export Control Reform Act ("ECRA"). While these two acts passed, the effort to establish an outbound screening mechanism proved more difficult.
The need for an outbound screening mechanism was perceived to be sufficiently urgent that then-President Biden decided EO 14105 was needed to address the situation pending congressional action. Although the COINS Act may not be implemented for several more months, preparing for its impact requires an understanding of both that statute and the OISP, as there is significant overlap between the two regimes, yet important differences as well.
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"The COINS Act – Keeping Up with the U.S. Outbound Investment Regime," by Anthony Rapa, Kenneth J. Nunnenkamp, and Rachel D. Evans was published in Reuters and Westlaw Today on June 10, 2026.