On March 20, the U.K Serious Fraud Office, France’s Parquet National Financier (“PNF”), and the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) announced a new International Anti-Corruption Prosecutorial Taskforce to enforce transnational anti-bribery laws. The announcement signals a major shift in international leadership on anti-corruption enforcement and bolsters hope that anti-corruption initiatives will not slow in the wake of recent changes to U.S enforcement priorities.
For decades, the United States has led the international charge against corruption, providing a vast, transnational framework of laws that foreign government have relied on to combat corruption, bribery, fraud, and wrongdoing. In recent months, the U.S has signaled a shift in enforcement priorities, freezing this legal framework and causing a crisis in anti-corruption efforts. On February 10th, President Trump suspended the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) through an Executive Order, arguing that the move would aid the competitiveness of American businesses abroad.
Speaking to the Trump administration’s decision, Stephen M. Kohn, partner at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto and Co-Founder and Board Chairman of National Whistleblower Center stated: “The Trump administration’s pause on FCPA was shortsighted and based upon false premises. […] The ‘pause’ in FCPA prosecutions is disastrous for both American taxpayers and businesses and should be immediately reversed.”
Kohn explained “while the U.S has historically taken the lead in FCPA enforcement, anti-corruption cases have become increasingly transnational in nature. […] In the past decade, the United States has collected over $21 billion in sanctions (71% of total sanctions in the span) from companies headquarters outside the U.S. Moreover, foreign law enforcement, including the SFO, PNF, and OAG, have worked side-by-side with the United States on scores of successful prosecutions.”
In a recent article in SSRN, Kohn argues that, in the wake of U.S shifts, liberal democracies must bolster their anti-corruption frameworks to fill the gap. Last week, Kohn and National Whistleblower Center hosted a special presentation at the Hague Humanities Hub to discuss the anti-corruption crisis and argue for increased international anti-corruption frameworks. Yesterday’s announcement answers that call.
Next week, Kohn and the National Whistleblower Center will join other leading anti-corruption experts at the OECD’s 2025 Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum on March 25 in the side panel, “Whistleblower Protections Under Pressure: Addressing Barriers to Effectiveness.”
National Whistleblower Center has issued an Action Alert allowing supporters to urge the Trump administration to end its pause on FCPA enforcement.
