Charles Capito

Charles L. Capito is a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell’s General Practice Group and a member of the National Security Practice. A leading authority on matters involving regulatory reviews of foreign direct investments and acquisitions, focusing particularly on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Charles is recognized by Chambers USA and Chambers Global in the CFIUS Experts rankings.

His practice focuses on advising clients on and managing every aspect of the CFIUS review process, including initial risk assessment and allocation, negotiating definitive documentation, advocacy before the Committee, negotiation of mitigation measures, post-transaction compliance with mitigation agreements, and on some of the few CFIUS enforcement actions. He has secured clearances in many of the largest and most sensitive cases to undergo CFIUS review. This includes substantial investments, acquisitions, and other transactions in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence platforms, robotics, semiconductors, AI and digital infrastructure (e.g., datacenters), autonomous technologies, energy, cybersecurity, and others. In addition to his extensive CFIUS experience, he has counseled some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated investors on complex structuring, jurisdictional, and timing issues. Charles also helps coordinate reviews of cross-border transactions by other global regulatory regimes in the EU, UK, Middle East, Asia, and elsewhere.

In addition, Charles is often engaged to advise clients on export controls, supply chain controls, and other regulatory issues that raise national security concerns, including compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). He advises foreign investors and government contractors on regulatory and compliance matters relating to facility security clearances under the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), issues arising from foreign ownership, control or influence (FOCI), and compliance regimes administered by the Department of Commerce Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services (OICTS) and rules under Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.

Charles regularly publishes articles and speaks at conferences on CFIUS, national security, export controls and related topics.