The Hungarian Government recently adopted Act no. LVII of 2018 on the Control of Investments Detrimental to the Interests of Hungarian National Security (the “Act”). Previously we wrote about a similar legislative proposal which aimed at establishing a similar control mechanism. However, the Act has a more sophisticated approach on the control and approval procedure than the earlier proposal had. Pursuant to the Act, investors from outside the EU, Switzerland and EEA countries who wish to invest in Hungary must obtain prior approval from the minister to be designated by a governmental decree (“Minister”) which has not yet been adopted.

The scope of the Act

Compared with the Proposal, the Act has an extended scope…