With President Biden’s recent signing of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), a part of that bill, the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (“FEPA”) also became law. The FEPA’s enactment is intended to fill a gap in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) which has long criminalized the payment of bribes to foreign government officials by U.S. companies but does not similarly address the demand for or receipt of such payments. This new law makes it unlawful for a foreign government official to “corruptly demand, seek, receive, accept, directly or indirectly, anything of value” as a bribe for conferring any business advantage to a U.S. company.
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