Trump Pauses Enforcement of Foreign Bribery Ban

WASHINGTON -- President Trump signed an executive order last week pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The law prohibits American citizens and entities from using bribes of government officials to benefit their business interests. It also applies to foreign corporations that trade securities in the United States.

The law defines bribes to include “anything of value.” Violations of the law are prosecuted by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission through criminal and civil penalties.

Trump said current enforcement strategies could inhibit the ability of Americans to conduct foreign trade.?

"We have to save our country," he said in a fact sheet about his executive order. "Every policy must be geared toward that which supports the American worker, the American family, and businesses, both large and small, and allows our country to compete with other nations on a very level playing field."

The order directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to revise guidelines on how the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is enforced.

Last year, the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission announced 26 enforcement actions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. There were 17 a year earlier.

The executive order did not endorse bribery by Americans but hinted that it would be tolerated if it was necessary for successful international business.

"U.S. companies are harmed by FCPA overenforcement because they are prohibited from engaging in practices common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field," the fact sheet says.

Bondi gave a glimpse of how she would revise the enforcement guidelines in a memo last week to the Justice Department's Criminal Division that handles foreign business cases.

She told the division’s attorneys to "prioritize investigations related to foreign bribery that facilitates the criminal operations" of cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

Her memo also said prosecutors should “shift focus away from investigations that do not involve such a connection."

Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 after media reports of widespread corruption in how international contracts were awarded. The Act is supposed to ensure American businesses do not engage in the same unethical behavior.

In a recent prosecution, Germany-based software company SAP SE agreed last year to pay $220 million to resolve U.S. claims that it bribed South African and Indonesian officials.

Until Trump signed his executive order Monday, anti-corruption advocacy organization Transparency International said the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act made the United States a leader in fighting international corruption.

Trump's order "diminishes - and could pave the way for completely eliminating - the crown jewel in the U.S.'s fight against global corruption," Gary Kalman, executive director of Transparency International U.S., said in a statement.

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