by Greg D. Andres, Martine M. Beamon, Daniel S. Kahn, and Neil H. MacBride
Left to proper: Greg D. Andres, Martine M. Beamon, Daniel S. Kahn and Neil H. MacBride (images courtesy of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP)
On December 4, Deputy Legal professional Basic Todd Blanche and different DOJ officers participated within the annual ACI FCPA convention in Washington DC, outlining key ideas to company enforcement and FCPA investigations and prosecutions. The remarks present perception into how this DOJ is approaching FCPA enforcement and company enforcement extra broadly.
The American Convention Institute hosted its forty second Annual Overseas Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and International Anti-Corruption Convention on December 3–4, 2025, a landmark FCPA convention held in Washington DC every year. Among the many varied audio system had been members of the U.S. Division of Justice’s (DOJ) senior management group, together with Deputy Legal professional Basic (DAG) Todd Blanche, the Appearing Assistant Legal professional Basic and Head of the Felony Division Matthew Galeotti, Chief of the DOJ’s FCPA Unit David Fuhr, and Appearing Chief Counselor for the Felony Division Keith Edelman. The DOJ officers’ remarks addressed the Division’s up to date insurance policies, offered an summary of the Division’s investigative and enforcement actions over the previous 12 months, and underscored DOJ’s mission and guiding ideas. Notably, DAG Blanche additionally introduced a forthcoming DOJ-wide company enforcement coverage that may add consistency and transparency to how all parts of DOJ deal with such instances.
DAG Blanche’s keynote deal with highlighted 5 key ideas guiding DOJ’s core mission and company enforcement actions. These ideas are: (1) prioritizing particular person accountability; (2) pursuing company prison resolutions solely the place there may be ample admissible proof to show a case past an inexpensive doubt; (3) offering cooperation credit score to corporations that present significant help to DOJ’s investigation; (4) working environment friendly and disciplined investigations; and (5) making certain that corporations comply with DOJ’s inner chain of command and never attempt to escalate points to senior management “out of order.” Taken collectively, these ideas emphasize DOJ’s give attention to streamlining investigations and on instances with clear proof of wrongdoing. Per the Felony Division’s up to date Company Enforcement Coverage, launched in Could of this 12 months, DOJ is stressing each the carrots and sticks for voluntarily disclosing and cooperating.
Notably, DAG Blanche additionally introduced that, within the coming weeks, the DOJ expects to subject a company enforcement coverage that may apply to prison instances throughout the Division. The aim of this forthcoming coverage will probably be to advertise consistency and transparency of prosecutorial conduct by all DOJ parts, not simply the DOJ Felony Division, which handles a big portion of DOJ’s company instances. This is a crucial improvement.
With respect to the FCPA, DAG Blanche emphasised two factors from the new FCPA Pointers, launched on June 9, 2025. The primary is that the DOJ will shut investigations—as they do within the regular course of all prosecutorial work—based mostly on components just like the proof, the age of the conduct, and different case administration issues. The second is that the up to date tips are inner instruments for prosecutors to comply with, and that corporations and people mustn’t count on to make use of these tips as “shields” for prison conduct. General, DAG Blanche said that the DOJ will proceed to implement the FCPA inside the bounds of what the statute permits, however that de minimis or low-value bribes, in addition to customary enterprise practices and schemes missing a significant U.S. nexus, wouldn’t be the main focus of FCPA enforcement.
In keeping with the DOJ’s Could 12, 2025 Memorandum on Number of Screens in Felony Division Issues, DAG Blanche reiterated that the Felony Division has recalibrated its strategy to monitorships, together with that displays will solely be put in place within the uncommon instances through which the compliance and deterrence advantages outweigh the burden and interference with the corporate’s personal remediation efforts. He additionally famous that monitorships should not a “clean verify” and that monitorships will be terminated early, upon the advice of prosecutors, the place corporations have met their obligations.
The remarks by the Appearing Assistant Legal professional Basic and Head of the Felony Division Matthew Galeotti, Chief of the DOJ’s FCPA Unit David Fuhr, and Appearing Chief Counselor for the Felony Division Keith Edelman converged on some frequent themes.
First, the DOJ officers described the state of FCPA enforcement underneath the Trump administration as having been “revitalized” and as “extra of a pivot than a sea change.” The audio system pointed to the FCPA Pointers, and particularly famous the Division’s efforts to pursue environment friendly and targeted investigations that implicate the 4 precedence areas recognized within the Pointers. The officers famous that, though some investigations had been closed and backbone phrases ended early, the variety of such requests that DOJ has turned down far outweighs the variety of requests that it granted.
Second, in response to questions on whether or not the FCPA could be targeted on international corporations and people as a substitute of U.S. ones, the DOJ officers uniformly emphasised that DOJ’s determination to analyze or implement the FCPA doesn’t rely on the nationality or id of the individual or the corporate being investigated. Somewhat, DOJ’s focus is whether or not the problems affect American pursuits, American victims, and/or American companies. The officers additionally famous that if a case has a weak nexus to the US, the DOJ is not going to hesitate to refer the case to its related international counterpart, with whom DOJ continues to cooperate extensively.
Lastly, the DOJ officers underlined their give attention to leads and case technology, together with by incentivizing voluntary self-disclosures, whistleblower suggestions, and regulation enforcement referrals. The DOJ officers famous that the applying of the Felony Division Company Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Coverage—underneath which an organization’s voluntary self-disclosure and cooperation can lead to a declination, decision, or in any other case scale back penalties—has been producing sturdy outcomes. Additional, it was famous that over 1,100 submissions have been made by way of the Division’s Company Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, and that following the Division’s updates to the Pilot Program in Could 2025, roughly 80% of the guidelines obtained have been referred to prosecutors for additional investigation.
There are a number of noteworthy takeaways from the DOJ officers’ remarks on the ACI convention:
- The DOJ officers’ remarks clarify that company enforcement, together with FCPA enforcement, continues to be a high precedence for DOJ. The truth that these officers spoke on the ACI FCPA convention itself sends a sign that DOJ continues to take such instances critically. This was the primary time {that a} Deputy Legal professional Basic spoke at this occasion because the final Trump Administration. Notably, regardless of the FCPA “pause,” DOJ has introduced extra enforcement actions this 12 months than it did underneath the primary 12 months of the Biden Administration.
- Given the clear give attention to instances with U.S. equities and pivot away from instances involving de minimis and low-value funds, in addition to remarks concerning the age of the case and wish for compliance monitoring, the officers’ remarks additionally provide a information to corporations advocating to prosecutors for a case closure or extra lenient decision.
- Lastly, DOJ continues to ratchet up the carrots for corporations that provide significant help to DOJ, together with within the type of voluntary self-disclosure and cooperation credit score. A DOJ-wide company enforcement coverage will standardize the way in which that corporations are handled throughout DOJ parts. The flip aspect is that corporations that refuse to cooperate might face a a lot harsher end result, together with probably indictment.
Greg D. Andres, Martine M. Beamon, Daniel S. Kahn and Neil H. MacBride are Companions at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. Uzo Asonye, Sidney Bashago, Robert A. Cohen, Tatiana R. Martins, Fiona R. Moran and Paul J. Nathanson are Companions at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP who additionally contributed to this text. This publish first appeared as a shopper replace for the agency.
The views, opinions and positions expressed inside all posts are these of the creator(s) alone and don’t signify these of the Program on Company Compliance and Enforcement (PCCE) or of the New York College Faculty of Legislation. PCCE makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness and validity or any statements made on this web site and won’t be liable any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content material belongs to the creator(s) and any legal responsibility close to infringement of mental property rights stays with the creator(s).
by Greg D. Andres, Martine M. Beamon, Daniel S. Kahn, and Neil H. MacBride
Left to proper: Greg D. Andres, Martine M. Beamon, Daniel S. Kahn and Neil H. MacBride (images courtesy of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP)
On December 4, Deputy Legal professional Basic Todd Blanche and different DOJ officers participated within the annual ACI FCPA convention in Washington DC, outlining key ideas to company enforcement and FCPA investigations and prosecutions. The remarks present perception into how this DOJ is approaching FCPA enforcement and company enforcement extra broadly.
The American Convention Institute hosted its forty second Annual Overseas Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and International Anti-Corruption Convention on December 3–4, 2025, a landmark FCPA convention held in Washington DC every year. Among the many varied audio system had been members of the U.S. Division of Justice’s (DOJ) senior management group, together with Deputy Legal professional Basic (DAG) Todd Blanche, the Appearing Assistant Legal professional Basic and Head of the Felony Division Matthew Galeotti, Chief of the DOJ’s FCPA Unit David Fuhr, and Appearing Chief Counselor for the Felony Division Keith Edelman. The DOJ officers’ remarks addressed the Division’s up to date insurance policies, offered an summary of the Division’s investigative and enforcement actions over the previous 12 months, and underscored DOJ’s mission and guiding ideas. Notably, DAG Blanche additionally introduced a forthcoming DOJ-wide company enforcement coverage that may add consistency and transparency to how all parts of DOJ deal with such instances.
DAG Blanche’s keynote deal with highlighted 5 key ideas guiding DOJ’s core mission and company enforcement actions. These ideas are: (1) prioritizing particular person accountability; (2) pursuing company prison resolutions solely the place there may be ample admissible proof to show a case past an inexpensive doubt; (3) offering cooperation credit score to corporations that present significant help to DOJ’s investigation; (4) working environment friendly and disciplined investigations; and (5) making certain that corporations comply with DOJ’s inner chain of command and never attempt to escalate points to senior management “out of order.” Taken collectively, these ideas emphasize DOJ’s give attention to streamlining investigations and on instances with clear proof of wrongdoing. Per the Felony Division’s up to date Company Enforcement Coverage, launched in Could of this 12 months, DOJ is stressing each the carrots and sticks for voluntarily disclosing and cooperating.
Notably, DAG Blanche additionally introduced that, within the coming weeks, the DOJ expects to subject a company enforcement coverage that may apply to prison instances throughout the Division. The aim of this forthcoming coverage will probably be to advertise consistency and transparency of prosecutorial conduct by all DOJ parts, not simply the DOJ Felony Division, which handles a big portion of DOJ’s company instances. This is a crucial improvement.
With respect to the FCPA, DAG Blanche emphasised two factors from the new FCPA Pointers, launched on June 9, 2025. The primary is that the DOJ will shut investigations—as they do within the regular course of all prosecutorial work—based mostly on components just like the proof, the age of the conduct, and different case administration issues. The second is that the up to date tips are inner instruments for prosecutors to comply with, and that corporations and people mustn’t count on to make use of these tips as “shields” for prison conduct. General, DAG Blanche said that the DOJ will proceed to implement the FCPA inside the bounds of what the statute permits, however that de minimis or low-value bribes, in addition to customary enterprise practices and schemes missing a significant U.S. nexus, wouldn’t be the main focus of FCPA enforcement.
In keeping with the DOJ’s Could 12, 2025 Memorandum on Number of Screens in Felony Division Issues, DAG Blanche reiterated that the Felony Division has recalibrated its strategy to monitorships, together with that displays will solely be put in place within the uncommon instances through which the compliance and deterrence advantages outweigh the burden and interference with the corporate’s personal remediation efforts. He additionally famous that monitorships should not a “clean verify” and that monitorships will be terminated early, upon the advice of prosecutors, the place corporations have met their obligations.
The remarks by the Appearing Assistant Legal professional Basic and Head of the Felony Division Matthew Galeotti, Chief of the DOJ’s FCPA Unit David Fuhr, and Appearing Chief Counselor for the Felony Division Keith Edelman converged on some frequent themes.
First, the DOJ officers described the state of FCPA enforcement underneath the Trump administration as having been “revitalized” and as “extra of a pivot than a sea change.” The audio system pointed to the FCPA Pointers, and particularly famous the Division’s efforts to pursue environment friendly and targeted investigations that implicate the 4 precedence areas recognized within the Pointers. The officers famous that, though some investigations had been closed and backbone phrases ended early, the variety of such requests that DOJ has turned down far outweighs the variety of requests that it granted.
Second, in response to questions on whether or not the FCPA could be targeted on international corporations and people as a substitute of U.S. ones, the DOJ officers uniformly emphasised that DOJ’s determination to analyze or implement the FCPA doesn’t rely on the nationality or id of the individual or the corporate being investigated. Somewhat, DOJ’s focus is whether or not the problems affect American pursuits, American victims, and/or American companies. The officers additionally famous that if a case has a weak nexus to the US, the DOJ is not going to hesitate to refer the case to its related international counterpart, with whom DOJ continues to cooperate extensively.
Lastly, the DOJ officers underlined their give attention to leads and case technology, together with by incentivizing voluntary self-disclosures, whistleblower suggestions, and regulation enforcement referrals. The DOJ officers famous that the applying of the Felony Division Company Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Coverage—underneath which an organization’s voluntary self-disclosure and cooperation can lead to a declination, decision, or in any other case scale back penalties—has been producing sturdy outcomes. Additional, it was famous that over 1,100 submissions have been made by way of the Division’s Company Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, and that following the Division’s updates to the Pilot Program in Could 2025, roughly 80% of the guidelines obtained have been referred to prosecutors for additional investigation.
There are a number of noteworthy takeaways from the DOJ officers’ remarks on the ACI convention:
- The DOJ officers’ remarks clarify that company enforcement, together with FCPA enforcement, continues to be a high precedence for DOJ. The truth that these officers spoke on the ACI FCPA convention itself sends a sign that DOJ continues to take such instances critically. This was the primary time {that a} Deputy Legal professional Basic spoke at this occasion because the final Trump Administration. Notably, regardless of the FCPA “pause,” DOJ has introduced extra enforcement actions this 12 months than it did underneath the primary 12 months of the Biden Administration.
- Given the clear give attention to instances with U.S. equities and pivot away from instances involving de minimis and low-value funds, in addition to remarks concerning the age of the case and wish for compliance monitoring, the officers’ remarks additionally provide a information to corporations advocating to prosecutors for a case closure or extra lenient decision.
- Lastly, DOJ continues to ratchet up the carrots for corporations that provide significant help to DOJ, together with within the type of voluntary self-disclosure and cooperation credit score. A DOJ-wide company enforcement coverage will standardize the way in which that corporations are handled throughout DOJ parts. The flip aspect is that corporations that refuse to cooperate might face a a lot harsher end result, together with probably indictment.
Greg D. Andres, Martine M. Beamon, Daniel S. Kahn and Neil H. MacBride are Companions at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. Uzo Asonye, Sidney Bashago, Robert A. Cohen, Tatiana R. Martins, Fiona R. Moran and Paul J. Nathanson are Companions at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP who additionally contributed to this text. This publish first appeared as a shopper replace for the agency.
The views, opinions and positions expressed inside all posts are these of the creator(s) alone and don’t signify these of the Program on Company Compliance and Enforcement (PCCE) or of the New York College Faculty of Legislation. PCCE makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness and validity or any statements made on this web site and won’t be liable any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content material belongs to the creator(s) and any legal responsibility close to infringement of mental property rights stays with the creator(s).
