Key takeaways

• On November 19, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued a Notice intended to curtail “inversion transactions” and to eliminate the benefits of certain post-inversion strategies. The provisions of the Notice generally are effective immediately.
• Although the Notice contains a significant new rule that limits the use of third-country parent companies and may deter certain inversion transactions, it does not fundamentally alter the tax landscape, and it does not address “earnings stripping” transactions.
• The Notice provides relief to foreign insurance companies by permitting certain acquisition transactions involving insurance companies that could have been characterized as inversion transactions under prior guidance issued by the Treasury Department and the IRS.