It is sometimes interesting to think about if foreign countries had laws like the U.S. and/or enforced those laws in ways in which the U.S. does.
The U.S. has brought several Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions against foreign companies for bribing their own “domestic” officials (for instance an FCPA enforcement action against a Brazil company for bribing Brazilian officials) based on sparse U.S. jurisdictional grounds (sometimes the mere listing of securities in the U.S.).
Should foreign countries therefore prosecute U.S. companies for bribing their own “domestic” officials based on sparse jurisdictional grounds – such as a mere listing of securities in that country or an e-mail in furtherance of the bribery scheme passing through a server located in that country?
The U.S. recently enacted the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) which – in the words of the DOJ – “criminalizes the “demand side” of foreign bribery by prohibiting foreign officials from demanding, seeking, receiving, accepting, or agreeing to receive or accept anything of value.”
If a foreign country enacted a FEPA-like law, should that foreign country prosecute a U.S. official from “demanding, seeking, receiving, accepting, or agreeing to receive or accept anything of value” from a citizen or business in that country?
For instance, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was recently criminally charged in the U.S. for, among other things, bribery. (See here for the DOJ release). As stated in the DOJ release:
“In 2014, ADAMS was elected Brooklyn Borough President. Thereafter, ADAMS sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him. By 2018, ADAMS—who had by then made known his plans to run for Mayor of New York City—not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign from foreign nationals, as well as other things of value. As ADAMS’s prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash-in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when it became clear that ADAMS would become New York City’s mayor in 2021. ADAMS agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received. After his inauguration as Mayor of New York City, ADAMS soon began preparing for his next election, including by planning to solicit more illegal contributions and granting requests from those who supported his 2021 mayoral campaign with such donations.”
If Turkey has a law similar to FEPA, should Turkey also bring criminal charges against Adams?
An interesting question to ponder on Monday.
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