Trump's new communications chief yet to win Washington's OK on his firm's sale

New White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci (Photo by AFP)

US President Donald Trump’s new Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who had agreed to sell his hedge fund firm to clear the way for the government post, is reportedly still awaiting approval of the sale to a Chinese company from US regulators.

Scaramucci agreed in January to sell SkyBridge Capital LLC to a group led by the major Chinese conglomerate HNA in efforts to pave the way for accepting a position for the Trump administration, which finally materialized on Friday when the US president picked him as his top communications adviser, triggering the resignation of the controversial White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, who opposed the appointment, Reuters reported Saturday.

According to the report, the sale of SkyBridge “has yet to get the green light from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews acquisitions by foreign entities for potential national security risks.”

It added that although the CFIUS has become growingly hesitant in approving deals, the US president enjoys the power to veto recommendations made by the regulatory agency, though this has never happened in the past.

Moreover, the report pointed out that many of the heads of the government departments and agencies comprising CFIUS are political appointees, and it is chaired by Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

This is while Scaramucci stated in May that he expected the sale of SkyBridge to receive US regulatory approvals in June. He was further cited by Reuters as saying that he had discussed partnerships with HNA, separate from the sale of his business.

HNA is among a number of acquisitive Chinese firms currently under a scrutiny in China over the potential risks from domestic companies going on overseas buying sprees.

The Chinese firm is best known as the owner of Hainan Airlines Company and plans to acquire a majority stake in SkyBridge through its financial arm HNA Capital as part of an expansion into asset management.