Mark Warner Discusses Canada’s Rejection of the Shandong Gold Acquisition of TMAC Resources on National Security Grounds
Mark Warner was interviewed by CBC News about Canada’s decision to block the takeover of TMAC Resources Inc., owner of a Nunavut gold mine project, by a Chinese state owned enterprise Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd,, after an Investment Canada national security review. (December 22, 2020) Interestingly, the acquisition by Chinese tech giant Tencent of Leyou Technology (owner of London, Ontario-based video gaming studio Digital Extremes) which was conditioned on Investment Canada national security review appears to have closed successfully around the same time notwithstanding heightened scrutiny of Tencent and gaming investments. Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade and investment policy and negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration matters and Investment Canada Act reviews. As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time. He is frequently interviewed in print, radio and television on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement.
Mark provides international trade and investment law advice to natural resources clients on trade agreements, trade remedies, sanctions, export and import controls, anti-corruption, corporate social responsibility and compliance issues as a colleague at Pilot Law which provides comprehensive legal services for developing resource businesses in the mining, energy and renewables sectors.