Pausing the FCPA is only one in a series of setbacks to the US enforcement landscape. How else is Trump dismantling safeguards against corruption and bribery?
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US President Donald Trump hit pause on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 (FCPA) on 10 February 2025, just one in a string of actions by the new administration to wind down anti-corruption and bribery enforcement.
Freezing the FCPA has generated widespread speculation about the compliance landscape going forward, whilst additional indicators of the US’ dwindling efforts to tackle bribery and corruption are emerging. For instance, Trump has called for the bribery charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams to be dropped. Trump has indicated his intention to dismantle the Department of Justice (DOJ) by removing all Biden-era attorneys.
Question marks remain over the long-term implications of these actions, but the roll back on anti-corruption and bribery measures point to a significant shift in US enforcement priorities.
Lexology PRO provides a round-up of recent actions by the Trump administration and spotlights previous high-profile enforcement actions under affected anti-corruption and bribery laws and agencies.
Key legislation rolled back
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
On 10 February 2025 , Trump signed an executive order pausing enforcement of the FCPA for 180 days until new guidelines are issued. A directive issued by Pam Bondi just days prior announced a shift in the focus away from cases that do not involve the criminal activities of cartels and transnational criminal organisations (TCOs). All FCPA investigations are paused until new guidelines are released, news that sparked confusion among judges about how to proceed with ongoing cases. On 21 February 2025, the DOJ recommended that the trial involving the Cognizant judges proceed despite the pause in FCPA investigations.
Since its inception in 1977, the FCPA has been the cornerstone of US anti-corruption efforts, aimed at tackling bribery in international business and holding companies accountable. Notable FCPA cases include the US$218 million settlement paid by chemical company Albermale to the DOJ over FCPA violations, including its involvement in bribery schemes with foreign government officials in bribery schemes involved with foreign government officials in multiple countries including Vietnam, Indonesia and India, via third-party sales agents and subsidiary employees.
In another high-profile FCPA case, mining giant Glencore paid US$1.1 billion to settle the DOJ’s investigation into allegations of decade-long bribery schemes and corrupt payments to foreign officials.
In a statement on 6 February 2025, the US Executive Director of Transparency International warned that the “narrowed focus of enforcement for these laws [FCPA] risks allowing corrupt markets around the world to flourish – to the clear detriment of US business and national security interests.” Transparency International published its 2024 Corruption Perception Index on 11 February 2025 which revealed that the US had dropped four positions, marking its lowest ever ranking. This decline is attributed to the prevalence of bribery and corruption among government officials.
Foreign Agents Registration Act
Bondi’s memo, issued on 5 February 2025, shifted the focus of the Foreign Agents Registration Act 1938 (FARA), with the Act’s new scope limiting criminal charges to “instances of alleged conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors.” This amendment may reduce criminal liability for companies involved solely in commercial activities with no ties to foreign governments. However, targeted enforcement is expected to prioritise businesses and individuals tied to Palestine, Yemen, and China, as part of the Trump administration’s isolationist agenda.
In one example of enforcement under the FARA cases, the DOJ indicted two Russian nationals in 2024 for violating the Act in addition to money laundering charges. The duo, and their employer Russian state-controlled media outlet RT, allegedly spent US$10 million to fund an online content creation company in the US. Through wire transfers from shell companies, the company generated over 2,000 videos featuring Russian government propaganda which were circulated to US audiences.
Russia-focused task forces
In addition to scaling back anti-corruption agencies, Bondi’s directive targets a series of task forces aimed at reducing Russia’s influence in the US.
Bondi disbanded the Foreign Influence Task Force, which polices foreign malign influence and mitigates Russian propaganda campaigns. Trump first introduced the agency in his previous term, but the president has since backtracked following the 2024 election, during which Russian propaganda campaigns demonstrated a strong bias towards him.
Bondi also dismantled the Task Force KleptoCaptutre, the DOJ’s Kleptocracy Team, and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. These units seize Russian oligarchs’ assets and enforce sanctions against Russia.
The task forces were successful in pursuing illicit Russian assets. Examples include the US$75 million forfeiture of luxury properties with ties to international money laundering owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Veselberg on 24 February 2023.
Further indications of waning anti-corruption and bribery efforts
On 17 February 2025, Trump asked the Supreme Court for permission to fire the head of an independent ethics agency that protects federal employees who blow the whistle. Additionally, the president is reportedly seeking to eliminate the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section which investigates and prosecutes misconduct by federal, state and local public officials. This marks another potential knock to whistleblowers reporting government malfeasance.
Formel Special Counsel Jack Smith is among 900 former prosecutors who signed an open letter to current federal prosecutors expressing deep concern about the DOJ’s increasingly ideological tilt and cites alarm at the department’s leadership. Smith led two federal criminal investigations against Trump over his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Without these laws and enforcement powers in place, the future of US efforts to tackle bribery and corruption hangs in the balance.