Foreign firms attempting a takeover or merger that might affect national security must get a stamp of approval from a little-known group called the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, a panel of representatives from across the government run by the Treasury Department from its grand building on Pennsylvania Avenue, next to the White House.
To add to the security worries, a hologram stamp that was to be one of the safety features for euro notes was stolen from an Air France flight from Paris to Munich in May.