In our last column, we wrote about the recent dramatic increase in global antitrust enforcement.1 In this column, we write about a similar enforcement trend concerning international bribery. In the United States, these investigations are typically carried out pursuant to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which essentially imposes U.S. anti-corruption restrictions over actions outside U.S. borders. Foreign jurisdictions, which historically did not even prohibit bribery, are increasingly shifting toward the U.S. enforcement model. But apart from increasing global risks of investigations and prosecution, bribery imposes economic costs that further weigh in favor of anti-bribery vigilance. The combination of economic and enforcement costs means paying foreign bribes is not only illegal, but also a bad business decision.

Increasing Foreign Interest

The FCPA has been on the books since 1977, but for decades was rarely invoked.2 Amendments in 1998 extended application of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions to foreign firms and individuals who cause acts in furtherance of bribes within the United States. But enforcement did not really pick up until the collapse of Enron in 2001 and the passage in 2002 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which ushered in a new era of required public disclosures. In 2000, only one FCPA criminal action was commenced in the United States.

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