US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order instructing the Department of Justice to temporarily halt the enforcement of the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which prohibits bribery by American and foreign companies to secure business deals with foreign governments.
The President tasked the US Attorney General with overseeing the suspension of FCPA enforcement, which has been involved in high-profile cases, news agency PTI reported.
During the signing of the order, Trump expressed his belief that the law was putting companies at a disadvantage in the international arena.
Additionally, he instructed newly appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi to promptly cease any ongoing actions related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). This directive encompasses halting prosecutions of American individuals and companies accused by the Department of Justice (DoJ) of bribing foreign government officials in their efforts to secure business opportunities abroad.
“It sounds good on paper, but in practicality, it’s a disaster,” Trump said. “It means that if an American goes over to a foreign country and starts doing business over there, legally, legitimately or otherwise, it’s almost a guaranteed investigation indictment, and nobody wants to do business with the Americans because of it.”
He added: “It was a Jimmy Carter concept, and it sounds so good, but it’s so bad. It hurts the country and many, many deals are unable to be made because nobody wants to do business.”
Last year, a case was indicted against Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar, who were charged with allegedly participating in a bribery scheme to secure favourable terms for solar power contracts by offering over $250 million in bribes to Indian officials. The DoJ also brought a criminal indictment in teh case.
While Adani Group had called the charges “baseless”, renewable energy company Azure said the former employees referenced in the charges had been “separated” from it for more than a year.
(With PTI inputs)