New Rules of the Road, Or No Road? Effects of Anti-Corruption Changes

Welcome to the February 2025 edition of our newsletter!  In this issue, we’ll examine how changes to anti-corruption enforcement could affect dealmaking.

 Ethics On “Pause”: The State of Anti-Corruption Measures In a New Era

On February 10, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order “pausing” enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, arguing in part: “overexpansive and unpredictable FCPA enforcement against American citizens and businesses — by our own Government — for routine business practices in other nations not only wastes limited prosecutorial resources that could be dedicated to preserving American freedoms, but actively harms American economic competitiveness and, therefore, national security.”

Placing such a “pause” in place while myriad untraceable cryptocurrencies exist to easily facilitate bribery creates its own set of challenges – one in which companies which pursue cross- border transactions must now police themselves, at least in terms of the U.S. side of operations.  Each country’s anti-bribery and corruption laws remain in place, with Europe moving in a direction opposite of the Trump administration, increasing oversight and transparency demands.

This situation compels companies to oversee the executives involved in cross-border deals, and may raise privacy concerns if clandestine messaging apps are used, as a corollary to the secrecy of a digital wallet.  Such details can be very hard to obtain without the assistance of law enforcement, especially if conducted on a personal device.  Understanding an employee’s circumstances and reputation in advance becomes all the more vital to act as a bulwark against the possibility of future corruption.