Now that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has expanded the scope of transactions subject to mandatory declaration, some companies and their attorneys may believe that there's no need for a traditional analysis of the need for a voluntary CFIUS review.

But that would be a mistake, CFIUS lawyers said.

“Just because you don't have to submit a mandatory declaration doesn't mean you don't have CFIUS issues,” said Kenneth J. Nunnenkamp, an international trade and national security partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius' Washington, D.C., office.