{"id":1733,"date":"2025-02-12T04:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T09:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2025\/02\/12\/what-to-know-about-the-anti-bribery-law-trump-is-targeting\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T04:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T09:57:07","slug":"what-to-know-about-the-anti-bribery-law-trump-is-targeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2025\/02\/12\/what-to-know-about-the-anti-bribery-law-trump-is-targeting\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Know About the Anti-Bribery Law Trump Is Targeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Trump has paused enforcement of a federal law he has long bemoaned: the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits companies from bribing foreign officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The law, enacted in 1977, makes it illegal for companies that operate in the United States to pay foreign government officials to secure business deals. Mr. Trump\u2019s order on Monday bars federal prosecutors from launching new investigations or enforcement actions for 180 days. The Trump administration also said it would review existing investigations to \u201crestore proper bounds\u201d on the law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The law, which is enforced by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, has been leveraged heavily over the past two decades to crack down on bribery, including in countries where it is a common business practice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is unclear how Mr. Trump\u2019s executive order, which pauses criminal investigations, will apply to the S.E.C., which often brings civil actions in tandem with the Justice Department. Civil and criminal penalties can include millions of dollars in fines and prison time for individuals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here\u2019s what to know about the anti-corruption law:<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-58a63c8f\">Why is Mr. Trump pausing enforcement of the law?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In ordering the pause, Mr. Trump argued that the law put American firms at a disadvantage, echoing a criticism long made by the business community. The White House wrote in a fact sheet on Monday that U.S. companies were harmed by \u201coverenforcement\u201d because they were \u201cprohibited from engaging in practices common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During his first term in the White House, Mr. Trump asked administration officials to help kill the act, an effort that did not gain traction. But Democrats and Republicans alike have criticized its enforcement, said Mike Koehler, a scholar of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act who teaches at Texas A&#038;M and other universities.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1336jj\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171quhb\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\"><noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"css-1b5b8u1\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"><\/path><\/svg><\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<hr\/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"css-63woee\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-spinner\"><g fill=\"currentColor\"><path d=\"M11.28 22.8a.72.72 0 1 0 1.44 0v-6.72a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72Z\" opacity=\".37\"><\/path><path d=\"M17.766 21.16a.72.72 0 1 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.436a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.437Z\" opacity=\".26\"><\/path><path d=\"M1.506 14.653a.72.72 0 0 0 .445 1.37l6.391-2.078a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.369l-6.39 2.077Z\" opacity=\".61\"><\/path><path d=\"M5.07 20.314a.72.72 0 0 0 1.164.847l3.95-5.437a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165-.846l-3.95 5.436Z\" opacity=\".48\"><\/path><path d=\"M22.049 16.022a.72.72 0 0 0 .445-1.37l-6.391-2.076a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.39 2.076Z\" opacity=\".17\"><\/path><path d=\"M22.494 9.347a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.37l-6.391 2.078a.72.72 0 1 0 .445 1.369l6.39-2.077Z\" opacity=\".09\"><\/path><path d=\"M6.234 2.84a.72.72 0 0 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.436a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.437Z\" opacity=\".87\"><\/path><path d=\"M1.951 7.978a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.391 2.076a.72.72 0 1 0 .445-1.37l-6.39-2.076Z\" opacity=\".74\"><\/path><path d=\"M18.93 3.686a.72.72 0 0 0-1.164-.847l-3.95 5.437a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165.846l3.95-5.436Z\" opacity=\".02\"><\/path><path d=\"M12.72 1.2a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72a.72.72 0 0 0 1.44 0V1.2Z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Trump has paused enforcement of a federal law he has long bemoaned: the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits companies from bribing foreign officials. The law, enacted in 1977, makes it illegal for companies that operate in the United States to pay foreign government officials to secure business deals. Mr. Trump\u2019s order on Monday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-market","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}