President Donald Trump signed an executive order that directs the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to cease enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) a law that prohibits American companies from bribing foreign officials.
President Trumps said he believes that by issuing such an order, he will restore American competitiveness within the international market. According to a White House press release, the Trump Administration perceives the FCPA as a “barrier to U.S. success.” “We have to save our country,” said Trump. “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.”
In directing AG Bondi to pause FCPA enforcement, the White House provided multiple reasons as to why such a suspension of the law is in the best interest of the country:
- 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.
- Strategic advantages in critical minerals, deep-water ports, and other key infrastructure or assets around the world are critical to American national security.
- FCPA overenforcement infringes upon the President’s Article II authority to conduct foreign affairs, necessitating this review and new enforcement policies.
- Over time, FCPA interpretation and enforcement by U.S. prosecutors has broadened, imposing a growing cost on our Nation’s economy.
- In 2024, the DOJ and SEC filed 26 FCPA-related enforcement actions, and at least 31 companies were under investigation by year end.
- Over the past decade, there has been an average of 36 FCPA-related enforcement actions per year, draining resources from both American businesses and law enforcement.”
Focus Shifts to Cases Relating to Cartels and Crime
In addition to the suspension of FCPA enforcement, AG Bondi issued a memo that directed the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division’s FCPA Unit to “prioritize investigations related to foreign bribery that facilitates the criminal operations Cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (“TCOs”), and shift focus away from investigations and cases that do not involve such a connection.”
In helping the FCPA unit to do so, Bondi announced that she has suspended the requirement that investigations or prosecutions of cases relating to Cartels and TCOs under the FCPA be conducted by attorneys. She also indefinitely suspended a requirement that the Criminal Division of the DoJ approve such investigations and prosecutions.
Weakening the Fight Against Corruption?
President Trump’s actions did not proceed without facing criticism. According to Gary Kalman, executive director of Transparency International, Trump’s executive order “diminishes—and could pave the way for completely eliminating—the crown jewel in the U.S.’s fight against global corruption.”
Another opponent of President Trump’s actions, Alexandra Wrage, president and founder of the business anti-bribery group TRACE International said that this move shows that the president does not care about fighting corruption. “Unlike Trump, I think most U.S. companies now agree that bribery is a bad business strategy that introduces delay and uncertainty and undermines confidence in markets,” Wrage said in an email. “Trump has championed reduced regulation and has derided the FCPA, so it seems likely that fighting corruption will be a considerably lower priority.”
Advisers Urge Caution in Responding to the Move
Several law firms have cautioned companies against dismantling their FCPA compliance programs in light of the move by the Trump Administration to pause FCPA enforcement. They point out that several anti-corruption laws are still in place around the world, including the United Kingdom’s Bribery Act of 2010 and many others. They also say the move is likely to be challenged in court and could easily be reversed.
“Though the new Executive Order will likely result in fewer FCPA investigations and enforcement actions in the near term, organizations are best served by staying the course on ensuring anti‑bribery and anti-corruption compliance, including with regard to the FCPA—whose five-year statute of limitations could outlast the four-year term of the current administration—and in light of robust anti-corruption enforcement outside the United States,” wrote law firm Morrison Foerster in a client alert. “The Executive Order does not change the fact that the FCPA remains the law.”
Although President Trump’s executive order pauses all FCPA actions, its effect is not perpetual. Under the executive order, the suspension of FCPA enforcement will cease when AG Bondi issues revised FCPA enforcement guidance that promotes American competitiveness and efficient use of federal law enforcement resources. Until then past and existing FCPA actions will be reviewed in order to develop new guidelines. 
Jacob Horowitz is a contributing editor at Compliance Chief 360°