At the end of 2023 US President Joe Biden signed into law The Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), which brings about major changes to global anti-corruption protocols.
FEPA enables US prosecutors to bring criminal charges against any “foreign official” who seeks or accepts a bribe from a company or individual conducting business in the US, even when the unlawful activity occurs outside US borders.
The key innovation is that FEPA addresses the “demand” side and criminalises making requests for, and accepting, bribes. This law also expands the definition of a “foreign official” to cover all formal and informal employees and agents of foreign officials, including those working in an unofficial capacity. In addition FEPA encourages companies to report to the US Department of Justice any requests or demands for bribes made by foreign officials and their agents.
Although the old Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is regularly utilised to penalise US-based individuals and companies that engage in bribery or other corrupt practices for the purposes of influencing foreign officials, until now there has been no means of taking legal action against foreign officials who receive or solicit bribes.
The penalties under FEPA go up to a maximum of $250,000 or three times the amount of the bribe received, as well as up to 15 years in prison.
It seems that FEPA is set to transform and further expose the global culture of corrupt practices, especially in those nations with US investments. The question of whether Europe will also embrace these practices and their likely impact on the Western Balkans remains open.