The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund don’t seem to be any closer to a deal that would end the divide in professional golf since the side’s announced a framework agreement in June 2023, but the PIF’s interest in golf has led to proposed legislation that could limit influence in U.S. companies by foreign sovereign wealth funds.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., released a report Friday from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on the PIF’s efforts in the U.S. It also included a proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund Transparency Act, which would “fix loopholes within FARA [the Foreign Agents Registration Act] and provide [the Department of Justice] with additional means to combat foreign influence.”
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Blumenthal wrote, “The Subcommittee’s inquiry has revealed the lengths foreign actors will go in order to avoid basic disclosure and transparency to the American people.
“The subcommittee began its inquiry in June 2023 by focusing on the proposed deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf [which is funded by PIF] to allow Saudi Arabia to effectively control golf in the United States. This quickly revealed the PIF’s increasing investments in the United States, and the subcommittee sought to learn more about the PIF’s U.S. commercial activities by investigating four of its primary U.S.-based consultants.”
Blumenthal held hearings in July 2023 into the framework agreement, its potential impact on the future of men’s professional golf and the PIF’s influence in the deal.
That initial agreement, which ended months of litigation between the two sides, has failed to produce any tangible moves to reunite the game. In February, Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott met with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the White House but a deal between the sides doesn’t seem imminent.
Despite the stalled negotiations, Blumenthal is calling for more oversight of potential deals between the PIF and U.S. companies.
“Our report reveals how present laws may enable foreign influence without transparency. Very simply, our present defenses do not protect against increasingly sophisticated threats,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “While the Trump administration rolls back deterrents against foreign influence and seeks investments from our adversaries, I am calling on [Bondi] to immediately step up enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and support my Sovereign Wealth Fund Transparency Act.”
Read the full article here
