United States (US) President Donald Trump has signed an executive order Monday evening to stop the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a federal law that prohibits U.S. businesses from bribing foreign officials.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was enacted in 1977 and makes it illegal for companies that operate in the United States to pay foreign government officials to secure business deals.
Federal authorities have used the law to crack down on bribery, especially in countries where it is a common business practice.
Trump’s executive order directs U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to pause all new FCPA investigations and enforcement actions for 180 days while reviewing the law’s impact on U.S. foreign policy and economic competitiveness.
The Attorney General may decide to extend the review period by an extra 180 days.
The order argues that FCPA enforcement has been “stretched beyond proper bounds” and “abused in a manner that harms the interests of the United States.”
“Current FCPA enforcement impedes the United States’ foreign policy objectives and therefore implicates the President’s Article II authority over foreign affairs,” it stated.
“The President’s foreign policy authority is inextricably linked with the global economic competitiveness of American companies. American national security depends in substantial part on the United States and its companies gaining strategic business advantages, whether in critical minerals, deep-water ports, or other key infrastructure or assets.
“But overexpansive and unpredictable FCPA enforcement against American citizens and businesses — by our own government—for routine business practices in other nations not only wastes limited prosecutorial resources that could be dedicated to preserving American freedoms but actively harms American economic competitiveness and, therefore, national security.
“It is therefore the policy of my administration to preserve the presidential authority to conduct foreign affairs and advance American economic and national security by eliminating excessive barriers to American commerce abroad.” During the six-month review period, the order asked Bondi , the Attorney General, to ‘review guidelines and policies governing investigations and enforcement actions under the FCPA.’
The order also requested that the Attorney General “cease initiation of any new FCPA investigations or enforcement actions, unless the Attorney General determines that an individual exception should be made.”
“Review in detail all existing FCPA investigations or enforcement actions and take appropriate action with respect to such matters to restore proper bounds on FCPA enforcement and preserve Presidential foreign policy prerogatives,” the order also requested of the Attorney General.
Speaking in the Oval Office while signing the order, Trump stated, “It sounds good on paper, but in practicality, it’s a disaster. It means that if an American goes over to a foreign country and starts doing business over there, legally, legitimately or otherwise, it’s almost a guaranteed investigation indictment, and nobody wants to do business with the Americans because of it.
“It was a Jimmy Carter concept, and it sounds so good, but it’s so bad. It hurts the country and many, many deals are unable to be made because nobody wants to do business.”
In 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed 26 FCPA-related enforcement actions, with at least 31 companies under investigation by the end of the year, according to a White House fact sheet.
The FCPA was drafted in response to mid-1970s revelations of payments by large US companies to foreign officials that surfaced through the Watergate investigations.
While barring US companies from making such payments, the 1977 FCPA statute, enacted during the Cold War, barred prosecution of officials with foreign governments because of concerns it could hinder US diplomatic priorities.
Over the years, the Justice Department has still managed to target corrupt foreign officials under other statutes, such as money laundering.
Among the biggest FCPA cases in recent years, Goldman Sachs in October 2020 paid $2.9 billion in a US deferred prosecution agreement over bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials to win business.
Rafsanjani has pointed to a sprawling prosecution by the DOJ and other countries of a four-company consortium that won some $6 billion in contracts to build liquefied natural gas facilities in Bonny Island, Nigeria.
The case included a $402 million criminal file on Halliburton unit KBR in 2009. But Nigerian officials were not jailed in the case.
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