As global investment deepens, cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have become a primary avenue for enterprises to secure key resources, enter new markets, and realize strategic synergies. Yet divergent legal frameworks, review procedures, and policy priorities across jurisdictions have sharply heightened legitimacy risks. Drawing on U.S. law—particularly CFIUS practice—and international investment law, this article systematically examines challenges arising from disparate approval regimes, the tension between antitrust and national-security reviews, and the opacity of investor identities. It then analyzes CFIUS’s risk-assessment logic, the constraining—but often limited—role of international investment agreements, and proposes concrete responses: rigorous, multidimensional due-diligence; transaction structures that anticipate or mitigate regulatory triggers; and more robust legal-opinion and compliance-assurance mechanisms. In an era of tightening global oversight and intensifying security-policy scrutiny, cross-border M&A must embed legal-compliance design at the core of deal planning and elevate legitimacy considerations to ensure both smooth execution and sustained post-closing compliance.

Yuan Gao. Research on Risk Identification in Legal Due Diligence and Response Strategies in Cross border Mergers and Acquisitions Transactions. Socio-Economic Statistics Research (2025), Vol. 6, Issue 2: 71-78. https://doi.org/10.38007/SESR.2025.060207.

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