DOJ Resumes Foreign Bribery Crackdown — With a Twist Aimed at Shielding U.S. Companies

By Newspot Nigeria Global Desk

🇺🇸 WASHINGTON— In a significant shift to its long-standing anti-corruption strategy, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has restarted enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) but under a more restrained framework designed to protect American business interests. The revised approach, outlined in a memo by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and elaborated by top DOJ officials, is expected to reduce the burden on U.S. companies while still pursuing serious violations that jeopardize national interests.

The FCPA, enacted in 1977, prohibits companies operating in the U.S. from bribing foreign officials to gain business advantages. It has long been considered a pillar of America’s global anti-corruption regime. But enforcement has slowed in recent months following President Donald Trump’s directive to reassess the law’s impact on U.S. firms.

According to Blanche’s memo and remarks by Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s criminal division, the revamped strategy will now target cases where U.S. companies are disadvantaged in global markets, where critical infrastructure is involved, or where misconduct is linked to transnational criminal organizations or cartels.

“The through line in these guidelines is that they require the vindication of U.S. interests,” Galeotti stated at an anti-corruption conference in New York.

🔍 Key Changes in DOJ’s Enforcement Playbook:

Advertisement

• All new FCPA investigations must be approved by senior DOJ officials.
• Ongoing investigations have been reviewed, with some quietly closed to focus resources on priority cases.
• Corporate leniency has been expanded, with the DOJ offering not to prosecute companies that self-report misconduct, cooperate with investigations, and demonstrate genuine remediation efforts.
• The use of corporate monitorships—firms appointed to oversee a company’s compliance—will be more limited and temporary.

While critics may view this as a softening of anti-corruption efforts, Galeotti insisted that white-collar crime remains central to DOJ’s criminal enforcement. He emphasized that the new policies aim for a smarter, more focused application of justice rather than a wholesale retreat from international accountability.

👁️‍🗨️ Implications: The move could have ripple effects across global anti-corruption efforts, particularly in developing economies where bribery has distorted markets. While U.S. firms may enjoy fewer regulatory hurdles, some watchdogs fear it could weaken deterrence in jurisdictions already grappling with weak enforcement.

The revised FCPA enforcement policy signals the Trump administration’s broader strategy to recalibrate federal oversight mechanisms in ways that align more directly with U.S. economic competitiveness.

🗞️ This report was compiled for Newspot Nigeria, where we track global policy shifts that have ripple effects on governance, transparency, and market dynamics across the African continent and beyond.