CDC was the subject of extensive investigations by the magazine Private Eye, which devoted seven pages to criticizing the organization in September 2010.

On 22 October 2010 the International Development Committee announced that it was to conduct an inquiry into CDC to examine issues such as its effectiveness and possible reforms, including its abolition.

[18] In November 2021, the FCDO announced that it would rebrand the CDC as British International Investment (BII) in 2022 as part of a strategy to deepen economic, security and development ties globally, increasing its financing to 9 billion pounds by 2025.

[19] Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in the announcement the change was to "grow economies across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean while drawing them closer towards free-market democracies and building a network of liberty across the world".

A group of NGOs and trade unions criticised the change as part of a move to "repurpose BII as an institution that focuses solely on private-sector investment and profit-making, rather than development goals and poverty reduction", and as part of offering an alternative to foreign partners to loans from China.