By Bernard Condon
NEW YORK (AP) – For fans, it is an undeniable force for good in a corrupt world, a groundbreaking anti-bribery law that secretly repays foreign government officials to win contracts overseas He brought a powerful businessman to his heels to do so.
For critics, foreign corruption practices unfairly obstruct American businesses, but foreign rivals are not so hampered.
President Donald Trump took his time on Monday.
“It sounds good on paper, but practicality is a disaster,” Trump said while signing an executive order that freezes law enforcement. “It would mean more business for America.”
The outcome could be dramatic depending on Trump’s next move.
If he stops a lot of prosecutions and essentially breaks the law, it could help us win deals abroad. But it also damages the image of America, allowing corrupt dictators who control the poor to become even richer, leading to France, Britain, Japan and other wealthy countries, and they The company will also weaken their own anti-briety laws so that they can make payments.
“We are facing a wild west situation,” said Mark Peace, a criminal law professor at the University of Basel in Switzerland and an expert on anti-briety law. “That would oppose everyone.”
What does the law prohibit?
The Foreign Corruption Practices Act of 1977, or the FCPA, prohibits people or businesses operating in the United States from giving money or gifts to foreign authorities to acquire or hold transactions in those countries. Masu. The law does not require that the bribery be actually paid, but it is only offered.
The punishment for a conviction is up to 20 years in prison, and businesses are fined and double their profits from illegal transactions. That often meant paying hundreds of millions of dollars, or sometimes billions of dollars.
How often is the law used?
The law has been used hundreds of times over the past decade, halting bes to win trades and large settlements from multinational companies such as Goldman Sachs, Germany’s Siemens and Swiss commodity trader Glencore. This led to payment.
But, while experts say it’s a real impact, something that’s definitely not in the headlines, happens behind the scenes as the fear of punishment prevents even thinking about bribery in the first place.
Do you think Trump is specifically wrong with the law?
In a nutshell, Trump claims that many others are corrupt. We are fools for playing with the rules.
Specifically, Trump said the law is enforced in a “overly unpredictable” way in which US companies compete with foreign rivals on uneven “stadiums.” He also hurts US national interests as the law is “drainage resources” from law enforcement and the United States is being blocked from transactions that provide access to deep sea ports, critical minerals and other assets. He said.
Trump’s statement revives criticism of the law that was common decades ago before other developed countries enacted their own bribery laws. Recently, both Republican and Democrat administrations have FCPA as a way to combat the kinds of conditions overseas that will not only defeat US corruption, but also allow cartels and terrorist groups against US interests to flourish. I’m accepting it.
What exactly did Trump do under his executive order?
Trump cannot overturn the law, but as head of the administrative department, he can change the way it is implemented and shift resources to other Department of Justice priorities.
His order will introduce a 180-day “pause” by the FCPA during review. He also ordered that no new ones be opened during that period. The order also states that it will halt “actions” of other Justice Departments under the law.
Trump is to give his administration his administration to come up with new “rational” guidelines on how American companies can implement laws that are not at a disadvantage by launching foreign trade. said there is a need for a pause.
Criminal defense attorney Duncan Levin said he expects Trump to essentially kill the law through negligence.
“He cannot remove the law, but he can refuse to enforce it,” says Levin, who represents famous defendants Harvey Weinstein and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. I did. “I don’t think this is just a pause.”
What kind of bribery was discovered under the law?
The FCPA was enacted in the 1970s after U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigators discovered that more than 400 American companies had made suspicious or illegal payments to foreign authorities to acquire businesses.
Since then, the list of bribery revealed by the prosecution is long and diverse.
Last year, former Raytheon (formerly Raytheon) military contractor RTX paid more than $300 million and bribeed Qatari officials by using fake contracts and other devices to hide trucks. The bill was resolved.
In 2019, Walmart paid $282 million to resolve the claim from a seven-year investigation into claims that earned approval to open stores in Mexico, India and Brazil by bridging local officials. I did. Allow the problem to disappear.
What do other countries do to stop bribery?
Since the FCPA was enacted nearly 50 years ago, US companies complain that they have more pain than help or unfair, as bribery has been common in some countries. It’s there. Later, under US pressure, allies of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development were independent, especially after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, and Africa and Asian countries, previously on a communist trajectory, opened their borders to business. We have begun to enact laws.
Ultimately, 40 wealthy countries adopted anti-briety laws under the FCPA, according to Peace of Bezel University.
There is another risk there is that Trump will weaken the FCPA.
“If US companies are being financed by Trump giving them a green light, then the French and British people will jump on that company,” Peace said. “It’s going to be a mess.”
Original release: February 11, 2025 6:35pm EST
