Foreign Ownership Control and Influence (FOCI)

What is FOCI? Why should I care?

FOCI is an important part of ensuring compliance with CFR Title 15. In FOCI, ownership generally refers to beneficial ownership of the business. A beneficial owner of a security — in this case a business — includes any person who directly or indirectly through any contract arrangement, understanding, relationship, or otherwise has or shares any of the following:

1. 1. Voting power, which includes the power to vote or to direct the voting of such security; or
2. 2. Investment power, which includes the power to dispose of or to direct the disposition of such security.

In this case, security just means ownership of a portion of the business. Voting power involves any decisions an owner might make about business operations, regardless of whether that power is being actively exercised.