What Does “Gap” Mean?
A commentator states: “The Justice Department’s six-month pause on FCPA enforcement has left a gap in the global anti-corruption fight.”
Guess it depends what “gap” means.
Since the February 10th Executive Order, the DOJ has indicated its intent to proceed to trial in three FCPA cases (see here and here) and a defendant in another case has pleaded guilty (see here).
“Perfect Storm”
“Perfect storm” is often an overused phrase.
Doing business in China. Well, that is a “perfect storm” for FCPA issues.
The COVID environment of 2020-2021 was described by some as a “perfect storm” for FCPA issues. (See here and here).
Next up in the “perfect storm” forecast.
As highlighted in this Law360 article:
“Experts in anti-corruption and bribery risk told Law360 that the combination of the Trump administration’s tariffs and its pause on enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has created the perfect storm when it comes to bribery risk, and that it may take years for the federal government to regain its global leadership in anti-corruption enforcement.”
Across the Pond
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office recently announced that it “searched five properties and made three arrests as it announced a new multi-million pound international bribery investigation.”
According to the release: “The target of the investigation is UK company Blu-3 and former associates of the global construction firm Mace Group. The operation included a search of a suspect’s premises today by Monaco authorities with assistance from the SFO. Individuals at Blu-3 are suspected of paying over £3 million of bribes to former associates of Mace Group in relation to the construction of a data centre in the Netherlands for the technology giant Microsoft.”
Not Persuasive
A general rule of persuasion is (or should be): to be taken seriously you should be factually accurate.
Here is what Senator Christopher Murphy (D-CT) had to say.
“February 10th, DOJ pauses enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This is the law that stops American companies from bribing foreign governments in order to get business. On February 10th, Trump suspends enforcement of an antibribery statute, paving the way for his friends in corporate America to start bribing foreign governments again.”
FYI – the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions apply to “bribing” foreign officials, not foreign governments. In the words of the DOJ/SEC Guidance (2020) “The FCPA prohibits payments to foreign officials, not to foreign governments.”
