Czech Republic: Impact of the New Cybersecurity Act on Foreign Direct Investment Screening

On 1 November 2025, an amendment to the FDI Screening Act entered into force, simultaneously with the new Cybersecurity Act. The main change introduced by this amendment is the expansion of the scope of target entities into which foreign direct investments will be subject to screening under the FDI Screening Act.

This originally relatively low number of entities will now include the regulated service providers subject to higher obligations regime (in Czech: poskytovatelé regulované služby v režimu vyšších povinností), as defined in the new Cybersecurity Act. These are providers who operate in one of the 15 sectors defined by the Cybersecurity Act. The sectors that will be newly subject to FDI screening will now include, among others, IT vendors, manufacturing industry, food industry, chemical industry, financial markets, and healthcare sector. Compared to the original regime, this change presents a significant expansion of the scope of target entities to which potential foreign direct investments will be subject to control under the FDI Screening Act. This regulation may thus impact investments into a range of thousands of companies. Assessment of the possible application of the rules for screening and authorisation of foreign direct investments will now be one of the important aspects that foreign investors must consider when planning their investments into Czech companies. In transactions where these rules apply, extension of the transaction process by the assessment of the investment by the relevant authorities can be expected.

Read more in Czech