Category Archives: Corruption: Foreign

DOJ Announces First FCPA Enforcement Activity After Months-Long Pause

by Kimberly A. Parker, Jay Holtmeier, Erin G.H. Sloane, and Christopher Cestaro

Left to Right: Kimberly A. Parker, Jay Holtmeier, Erin G.H. Sloane, and Christopher Cestaro (photos courtesy of WilmerHale)

Over the past week, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed its first Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement action and issued its first declination since the pause in FCPA enforcement mandated by President Donald Trump’s February 10, 2025 Executive Order (“February Executive Order”)[1] and the subsequent issuance of updated FCPA enforcement guidelines, the Guidelines for Investigations and Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) (“June Guidelines”).[2]  

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Italy under OECD Scrutiny: Foreign Bribery and the Rule of Law

by Simone Lonati 

Photo courtesy of the author

In order to respond to the phenomenon of the so-called “global crime”[1] in the last decades there has been a proliferation of multilateral international and regional treaties in criminal matters, together with executives and soft law measures in the field. International corruption is not an exception: starting from the 1990s, thanks to the pivotal role of the United States back in 1977 when it adopted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, there has been a wave of conventions adopted by bodies such as the OECD, the UN, the Council of Europe and the European Union, each bringing different approaches and demands to domestic legal systems.

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Second Circuit Reinstates FIFA Bribery Convictions, Reviving Honest Services Fraud Prosecutions for Foreign Commercial Bribery

by David A. Last, Rahul Mukhi, Victor L. Hou, Lisa Vicens, Matthew M. Yelovich, and Sarah Pyun

From left to right:  David A. Last, Rahul Mukhi, Victor L. Hou, Lisa Vicens, Matthew M. Yelovich, and Sarah Pyun (photos courtesy of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP)

In a significant decision with broad implications for companies and individuals operating internationally, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has reversed the acquittal of a former media executive and a sports marketing company in the long-running FIFA bribery investigation.[1]  The ruling reinstates jury convictions for honest services wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, holding that the federal honest services fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1346, can apply to foreign commercial bribery schemes.[2]

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DOJ Announces New Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement Guidelines

by David B. Anders, John F. Savarese, and Aline R. Flodr

Photos of the authors

Left to right: David B. Anders, John F. Savarese, and Aline R. Flodr (photos courtesy of authors)

On June 9, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the awaited new guidelines for prosecutors investigating and enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”).  These enforcement guidelines were issued in response to President Trump’s Executive Order titled “Pausing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement to Further American Economic and National Security,” which directed DOJ to “pause” certain FCPA investigations while reassessing enforcement priorities and to issue new FCPA enforcement guidelines within 180 days.  The stated aim of the new policy is to reduce undue burdens on American companies operating abroad and to focus on activities that undermine U.S. national interests.  The memorandum announcing the guidelines directs prosecutors to consider the following non-exhaustive factors and confirms that these new guidelines shall govern all current and future FCPA investigations and enforcement actions:

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A Reflection on the OECD’s Report (Part II): Governments’ Assessments of Corporate Anti-Corruption Compliance

by Veronica Root Martinez and Liz Carrasco

Photos of the authors

Left to right: Veronica Root Martinez and Liz Carrasco (photos courtesy of authors)

Governments have a responsibility to evaluate corporate compliance programs and an opportunity to design strong regulatory frameworks. To identify reforms and encourage implementation, they must first understand the state of compliance. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report Governments’ Assessments of Corporate Anti-Corruption Compliance[1] provides a detailed look at how governments are approaching the assessment of corporate anti-corruption compliance programs. The report explains that clear, consistent standards for assessing these programs would improve both efficiency and credibility—but few governments have adopted such standards. This blog post explores governments’ roles in 1) guiding companies on compliance criteria, 2) enhancing oversight, and 3) the value of information sharing.

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UK, French, and Swiss Enforcement Authorities Announce New Alliance

by Lloyd Firth, Dr. Jan-S. Wendler, Claire M. Guehenno, Kimberly A. Parker, Jay Holtmeier, Erin G.H. Sloane, Christopher Cestaro, and Lindsey Cullen

Top left to right: Lloyd Firth, Dr. Jan-S. Wendler, Claire M. Guehenno and Kimberly A. Parker. Bottom left to right: Jay Holtmeier, Erin G.H. Sloane, Christopher Cestaro and Lindsey Cullen (Photos courtesy of WilmerHale).

Summary

Anti-bribery and corruption agencies in the UK, France and Switzerland recently announced a shared commitment to tackling international bribery and corruption, by way of a new taskforce intended to strengthen collaboration.

This taskforce was announced by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), France’s Parquet National Financier (PNF) and the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) at a meeting in London. Its founding statement notes “the significant threat of bribery and corruption” and states that its members recognise that “success relies on us working closely and effectively together”. It intends to deliver a working group for case cooperation and increased best practice sharing.

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Crippling the FCPA Is Bad Business for the U.S.

by Stephen M. Kohn

Photo courtesy of the author

On February 10, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (E.O.) to pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The E.O. is based upon the inaccurate premise that the United States’ enforcement of the anti-bribery law unfairly cracks down on U.S. companies and harms their competitiveness in the global marketplace. During the pause, the Justice Department will reevaluate the enforcement strategies behind the FCPA, and presumably approve a new approach to FCPA enforcement. But the intent behind the Executive Order does not bode well for future U.S. prosecutions of criminal bribe paying in foreign countries.

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Reflections from the 2025 ABA White Collar Crime Conference: Evaluating the Implications of the New Administration’s Enforcement Priorities

by Robertson Park

Photos of the author

Photo courtesy of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

The 2025 ABA White Collar Crime Conference in Miami drew a large audience of more than 1,300 lawyers and another several hundred attending the evening’s events — and yet there was not a single DOJ representative. This reflects the amorphous and challenged state of DOJ leadership. I have not enough fingers to count the close generational friends and senior DOJ leaders who have been terminated, transferred, or forced out.  Natural questions about who is leading and where, and how they propose to get there were unanswered. The White-Collar Bar have become advocates for those who have been our foils. The “Regulators Speak” presentation reflected the fraught state of affairs. The new CFTC Director of Enforcement and the Acting SEC Associate Director of Enforcement spoke and certainly professed that while certain priorities may shift the fundamental effort to protect market integrity would continue, though the SEC representative confirmed that they will be abiding by the FCPA stand-down. This presentation was met by an individual audience member who took the microphone to cast a broadside against the new Administration.  

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Implications of Pausing FCPA Enforcement

by Kevin E. Davis

Photo of the Author

Photo courtesy of NYU School of Law.

On Monday February 10, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (the “Order”) “pausing” enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), citing its overly expansive and unpredictable enforcement as well as its adverse effects on the competitiveness of American companies. On the same day, the acting Deputy Attorney General of the Department of Justice ordered prosecutors in New York to dismiss pending campaign finance and bribery charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in part because of the Mayor’s support for the President’s policies on immigration.

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U.S. Authorities Charge Adani Defendants with Integrity Washing

by Kevin E. Davis

Photo of the author

Photo courtesy of NYU

Gautam Adani is the founder of one of India’s largest conglomerates and ranks among the country’s prominent business people. He and his nephew Sagar Adani are learning the hard way that, in the U.S. legal system, the coverup can be treated just about as severely as the crime.

The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have accused the Adani defendants of collaborating with executives of a U.S.-listed Mauritian company called Azure Power Global Ltd. in a massive bribery scheme. The conspirators allegedly paid over USD 250 million in bribes to officials in the governments of several Indian states. The bribes were to induce the officials to purchase power that would be supplied by Adani Green Energy Ltd., an Indian company controlled by the Adani defendants, as well Azure. 

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