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The U.S. Treasury on October 22, 2026, issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act, proposing new limits on American investments in advanced technology sectors across five countries — China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia. Notably, the draft regulation does not include Venezuela, a country named in the statute, reflecting a recent diplomatic reset with Caracas, the Treasury said.
How the proposed rule would work
The draft regulation would create two tiers of controls for specified technology areas. Certain transactions would require mandatory pre-deal notification to Treasury, while others would be banned outright. Treasury says it is accepting public comments on the proposal through December 7, 2026, before issuing a final rule; the COINS Act gives the department about 450 days from the act’s enactment on December 18, 2025, to complete implementing regulations, a statutory deadline that falls around March 13, 2027.
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Which countries and technologies are covered
Treasury’s proposed rule applies to U.S. persons — citizens, lawful permanent residents and entities organized under U.S. law — making covered investments in companies tied to the five designated countries. The six technology sectors identified in the NPRM are:
- semiconductor technology and microelectronics;
- super intelligence (SI) systems;
- quantum information technologies;
- high-performance computing and supercomputing;
- hypersonic systems; and
- biotechnology.
Treasury added biotechnology to the list under authority granted by the COINS Act, citing potential national-security risks where biological design, sequencing or brain-computer interface development could be exploited by adversaries.
The “super intelligence” prohibition
The strictest restriction in the proposal targets what federal documents now call “super intelligence” or “SI” systems — a terminology change that follows an executive order on September 29, 2026, directing agencies to substitute SI for references to artificial intelligence. Under the NPRM, any U.S. investment in an entity developing SI systems in the covered countries would be prohibited entirely, with no option to file a notification instead. Treasury justified the ban by pointing to the rapid pace of advances in this field over recent years and concerns that a notification-only approach could leave dangerous gaps.
Exemptions, thresholds and procedural tools
The proposal includes several carve-outs. Transactions that total no more than $50,000 in the aggregate over the prior 12 months would be exempt from the notification requirement (though that exemption would not apply to categories subject to an outright prohibition). Also excluded are investments in securities traded on public exchanges, shares in index funds, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, and certain limited partnership interests in non‑U.S. pooled funds so long as committed capital remains at or below $2 million. Intracompany transfers from a U.S. parent to a controlled foreign subsidiary, underwriting services and some syndicated lending arrangements are also outside the rule’s reach.
The NPRM establishes a formal pre‑deal feedback mechanism: parties with a direct financial stake in a real, active transaction may request non‑binding guidance from Treasury on whether a contemplated deal would be prohibited. Treasury officials said such feedback can be issued confidentially in writing or as anonymized public advisories to give investors greater certainty. A separate national‑interest exemption pathway would permit companies to petition Treasury to approve a transaction that would otherwise be barred if broader policy considerations warrant it.
Why Venezuela is absent
The COINS Act’s statutory language included Venezuela only while it remained under the government of Nicolás Maduro Moros. Treasury said it concluded that the Maduro regime no longer meets that definition after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas on January 3, 2026, and Maduro was transferred to the United States to face criminal charges. Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed the role of acting president, and on March 5, 2026, the United States issued a statement normalizing relations with the Rodríguez government, according to a Treasury fact sheet. Treasury added that “Venezuela does not meet the NPRM’s definition of a country of concern.”
Treasury cautioned, however, that specific transactions could still fall under the proposed rule in particular circumstances, leaving a narrow avenue for targeted restrictions. The department also noted that on April 1, 2026, the Office of Foreign Assets Control removed Delcy Rodríguez from its Specially Designated Nationals list, reflecting the broader diplomatic realignment between Washington and Caracas. U.S. officials have since taken steps to expand engagement, including issuing OFAC general licenses affecting Venezuela’s oil and gas sector, and encouraging American energy firms to consider participation under the Rodríguez government, Treasury said.
Next steps
The NPRM opens a formal comment period through December 7, 2026, during which investors, industry groups and legal advisers can offer input that may shape the final regulation. Treasury officials described the proposal as an operational step to turn the COINS Act — passed as part of the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act on December 18, 2025 — into a working outbound investment screening system. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security Christopher Pilkerton described the intent of the regulations: “are designed to address risks that can arise when foreign adversaries try to benefit from U.S. investment in key technology sectors.”
