Top Ten FCPA Settlements
Set forth below is the current top ten corporate FCPA settlements of all-time actually secured by U.S. law enforcement (in other words net FCPA settlement amounts).
Unlike certain other lists, the below list is calculated after consistently accounting for certain credits or deductions in several enforcement actions involving foreign companies and/or related foreign law enforcement actions.
Corporate FCPA Enforcement In 2025 Compared To Prior Years
This post, the first in a weeks-long year in review statistical feast on FCPA Professor, compares corporate FCPA enforcement in 2025 to prior years.
2025 was certainly an interesting year from an enforcement perspective.
In February, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Pausing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement to Further American Economic and National Security.” The “pause” ended up lasting 118 days (even though during the pause certain aspects of FCPA and related enforcement continued).
In addition, in Fall 2025 there was an approximate 40 day government “shutdown.”
As demonstrated in the below chart, corporate FCPA enforcement in 2025 (measured by the number of core actions) was down compared to prior years.
As will be highlighted in upcoming posts about DOJ and SEC enforcement, most of the drop is attributable to a decline in SEC FCPA enforcement as DOJ corporate FCPA enforcement in 2025 actually exceeded certain prior years such as 2021 and 2015.
Issues To Consider From The Comcel Enforcement Action
Prior posts here, here, and here highlighted the recent $118.2 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Comunicaciones Celulares S.A. (“Comcel” doing business as TIGO Guatemala), a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular, S.A, concerning bribery schemes in Guatemala.
This post continues the analysis by highlighting additional issues to consider.
Guatemala
The Comcel enforcement action is believed to be just the second FCPA enforcement action in history to concern conduct in Guatemala.
As highlighted here, a portion of the wide-ranging 2016 FCPA enforcement action against Odebrecht / Braskem concerned conduct in Guatemala – specifically payments to government officials in order to secure public works contracts.
False And Misleading FCPA Narratives
Imagine that a DOJ prosecutor thinks you have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
They seek criminally charges against you and marshal the full resources of the government against you.
Your reputation and future (and indirectly that of your family) is on the line as well as your pocketbook and your liberty.
You believe that the government’s interpretation of facts and/or legal elements are wrong and you exercise your constitutional right to a trial and put the government to its burden of proof.
Are you “attacking the FCPA”?
Richard Cassin (editor of the defunct FCPA Blog) seems to think so in this recent Substack post.
Healthcare Professionals As “Foreign Officials”
It is one of the more dubious FCPA enforcement theories there is.
It has never been subjected to judicial scrutiny.
It is a relatively new enforcement theory when one considers that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was enacted in 1977.
It is an enforcement theory that has been used 35 times since introduced to the FCPA context in 2002 and thus is one of the more obvious reasons for the general increase in FCPA enforcement in the modern era.
It is the enforcement theory that employees (such as physicians, nurses, mid-wives, lab personnel, etc.) of certain foreign health care systems are “foreign officials” under the FCPA and thus occupy a status akin to a President or Prime Minister.