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Hungary's Decree 561/2022 established a "Second Regime" of FDI screening operating in parallel with the General Regime (implementing EU Screening Regulation 2019/452). By mid-2025, the government found the existing 30-day review period structurally insufficient for complex transactions in strategic sectors. Decree 163/2025 addressed this in two ways:
Extended timeline: The base review period is increased from 30 to 45 working days, with three possible 30-workday extensions, yielding a theoretical maximum of 135 working days (~6.5 months). Each extension requires a reasoned decision from the screening authority. This aligned the Hungarian Second Regime with the longer review windows common in US CFIUS practice and the EU Screening Regulation's flexibility provisions.
State pre-emption right (new instrument): Where the screening authority issues a prohibition decision, the state now has 90 calendar days to exercise a right of pre-emption over the target company — stepping into the transaction on the same commercial terms agreed between the original parties. The right is exercised via MNV Zrt. (Nemzeti Vagyon-kezelő Zártkörűen Működő Részvénytársaság — the state asset-management holding company) or another entity specifically designated for the purpose. This is a first-introduction of a pre-emption mechanism in Hungarian law; prior practice was limited to blocking or approving transactions.
Retroactive application: The new rules applied immediately to all pending notification procedures as of 24 June 2025, creating an unexpected extension of review timelines for transactions already under screening at the time of enactment.
Scope expansion: The decree broadens the sectoral coverage beyond its predecessor's solar-sector focus to a wide basket of strategic sectors (energy, transport, communications, financial services, pharmaceuticals, food processing, defence, healthcare).
landscape — distinct from blocking, it gives the state a positive acquisition right at commercially set prices rather than purely prohibitory powers.
strategic-sector M&A in Hungary effectively double compared to the pre-June 2025 regime.
in-flight deals; transactions notified under 30-day expectations suddenly faced multi-month extensions.
the regime permanently; Decree 163/2025 thus served as the live test of the instrument before statutory entrenchment.
during the 24 June – 18 August 2025 window.
Regulation 2019/452 procedural-guarantee obligations.
scrutiny on the grounds of disproportionate restriction of free movement of capital.