Attorney General's Memorandum
On February 5, the newly appointed U.S. Attorney General, Pamela Bondi, issued a series of memoranda outlining the updated policy priorities of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under her leadership.
One such document, titled Total Elimination of Cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations, includes provisions related to combating the bribery of foreign public officials.
Specifically, the memorandum directs law enforcement agencies to focus their attention on investigating FCPA violations that facilitate the illegal activities of drug cartels and international criminal organizations. Accordingly, investigations into violations without such connections will be deprioritized. Similar policies are now to be followed by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice with respect to its investigations, prosecutions, and asset forfeiture actions.
The document also simplifies the process of initiating criminal proceedings related to transnational bribery. According to §9-47.110 of the Justice Manual, any proceedings under the FCPA or the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) must be authorized by the DOJ Criminal Division and are to be conducted by the FCPA Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. However, Bondi’s memorandum decentralizes this exclusive jurisdiction - but only for cases involving drug cartels and international criminal organizations. In such cases, any DOJ division may independently initiate proceedings by notifying the Fraud Section at least 24 hours before the start of the investigation and, upon request, providing all documents related to the intended charges.
Finally, the memorandum announces the dissolution of two DOJ initiatives: the Task Force KleptoCapture, established in 2022, and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, launched in 2010. These initiatives had focused on:
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Enforcing sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures against Russian oligarchs and their associates. Notably, in the past year, KleptoCapture reportedly facilitated the seizure of approximately $700 million in Russia-linked assets and brought sanctions and export control violation charges against more than 70 individuals;
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Identifying, investigating, and prosecuting kleptocracy-related offenses; tracking and recovering stolen and/or illicitly obtained assets; and prosecuting corrupt officials, including foreign ones. As of early 2023, the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative had reportedly secured the recovery of approximately $1.7 billion.
The orders set forth in the memorandum will remain in effect for 90 days, after which they may either be made permanent or rescinded.
Although many U.S. media outlets have portrayed the memorandum as a move to limit the scope of the FCPA or even to roll back efforts to combat transnational bribery entirely, FCPA experts believe the document is unlikely to have a significant impact on enforcement of the law.
Executive Order
On February 10, 2025, just a few days later, newly elected President Donald Trump signed the Executive Order on Pausing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement to Further American Economic and National Security.
The order provides for a 180-day suspension of the FCPA (with the possibility of extension) until the current guidelines and policies regulating FCPA investigations and enforcement are reviewed.
During this period:
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The initiation of any new FCPA investigations or enforcement actions is prohibited (exceptions may be granted by the Attorney General);
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All ongoing FCPA investigations and enforcement actions must undergo a thorough review;
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Based on the results of that review, updated guidance and/or enforcement policies must be proposed. These should be grounded in the principles of prioritizing U.S. national interests and economic competitiveness, and of ensuring the efficient use of federal law enforcement resources.
As stated in the executive order, this decision was made by the President because current FCPA enforcement is described as “excessive and unpredictable,” directed “against American citizens and businesses,” and aimed at holding them accountable “for standard business practices [freely used] in other countries.” Law enforcement authorities are said to be “not only wasting limited prosecutorial resources that could be used to protect American freedoms, but also actively harming U.S. economic competitiveness and, as a result, national security.”
As with Bondi’s memorandum, a number of journalists and experts have described the executive order as a step toward dismantling one of the most powerful tools in the fight against transnational bribery. For instance, the head of Transparency International US stated that Trump’s order “weakens - and may mark the beginning of the end for - a crown jewel in the United States' fight against global corruption.”
At the same time, other experts note that calls to revise or reform the FCPA have long been voiced - even by critics of President Trump. Observers have pointed out that the FCPA and its enforcement framework contain numerous vague and ambiguous provisions, and that law enforcement practices - such as effectively assigning internal investigations to companies themselves and favoring pretrial agreements with low investigative thresholds = undermine enforcement quality and negatively affect the competitiveness of US companies.
