Trump stops enforcing laws prohibiting bribery of foreign officials
President Donald Trump spoke to members of the press in the Oval Office of the White House on January 30, 2025.
Kent Nishimura for The Washington Post | Getty Images
President Donald Trump must have signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to suspend nearly half a century of law that prohibits U.S. companies and foreign companies from bribing foreign government officials to obtain or retain business.
The pause of criminal prosecution will be executed to avoid putting U.S. businesses at an economic disadvantage to foreign competitors.
Bloomberg News first reported on the planned executive order related to the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act. Bloomberg reports that Trump will tell Attorney General Pam Bondi to suspend FCPA operations and review current and past actions related to the law as new enforcement guidelines are prepared.
A White House official confirmed the report and told CNBC: “The suspension on law enforcement is to better understand how to simplify the FCPA to ensure it is in economic interests and national security.”
The FCPA’s intention is partly to prevent U.S. companies from aggravating rampant public corruption, which undermines the rule of law in many parts of the world. Over time, FCPA rules have developed into bedrock principle, the way American businesses operate overseas.
The FCPA became a law in 1977 that prohibited all Americans and certain foreign securities issuers from paying bribes to foreign officials. The law was amended in 1998 to apply to foreign companies and those who cause such bribes.
The broad law of this law applies not only to bribes directed payments, but also to bribes provided, planned or authorized by company management.
The FCPA also has a broad definition of the types of actions for foreign officials who trigger the law.
Individuals and companies may sue under the FCPA.
FCPA violators face the maximum criminal penalty of 15 years in prison, with a maximum fine of $250,000, three times the value required by foreign officials.
The Justice Department announced law enforcement actions in 2024 in connection with alleged violations of the FCPA.
17 such law enforcement actions were announced in 2023.
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