This makes sense. Shouldn't foreign firms have the same advantage over Americans and American firms as the foreigner (whether literal or just cultural) occupying our White House? Obama has already exempted himself from following US law in a broad range of areas, including most recently enforcing immigration law. This story just says that he's "spreading the wealth around" so that everyone who doesn't see themselves as American will benefit from his personal exemption.
Its a two way street. US firms are exempted from laws in these foreign countries.
The Investor Protections will often overide those laws or regulations. This is to protect the investors from creeping regulations because creeping regulations are taxes masquerading as regulations.