Trump to pause enforcement of law banning bribery of foreign officials

President Donald Trump is set Monday to sign an executive order directing the Department of Justice to pause enforcing a nearly half-century-old law that prohibits American companies and foreign firms from bribing officials of foreign governments to obtain or retain business.

The pause in criminal prosecutions will be implemented to avoid putting U.S. businesses at an economic disadvantage to foreign competitors.

The Bloomberg news service first reported the planned executive order related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Bloomberg reported that Trump will tell Attorney General Pam Bondi to pause FCPA actions, and to review current and past actions related to the law, while preparing new guidelines for enforcement.

A White House official confirmed the report, telling CNBC, “A pause in enforcement to better understand how to streamline the FCPA to make sure it’s in line with economic interests and national security.”

The FCPA became law in 1977, barring all Americans and certain foreign issuers of securities from paying bribes to foreign officials. The law was amended in 1998 to apply to foreign firms and people who caused such bribes to take place within the United States.

The broadly written law applies not only to direct bribes that are paid, but also to bribes that are offered or planned or authorized by a company’s management.

The FCPA’s definition of the types of actions by foreign officials that would trigger the law is also expansive.

Individuals and corporations can be prosecuted under the FCPA.

Violators of the FCPA face a maximum possible criminal sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or three times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value demanded by a foreign official.

The DOJ in 2024 announced enforcement actions in 24 cases related to alleged violations of the FCPA.

There were 17 such enforcement actions announced in 2023.

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