In a major relief for corporations, US President Donald Trump’s administration has paused prosecution in certain white-collar crimes such as foreign bribery, public corruption, money laundering and crypto markets, a report by Wall Street Journal said.
The development comes a few weeks after Trump signed an executive order to temporary halt the enforcement of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), an anti-bribery law, that the president says hinders American companies trying to do business in other countries.
US attorney general Pam Bondi has asked the Justice department prosecutors to turn their attention on to anti-money-laundering and sanctions-evasion activities on drug cartels and international crime organizations, WSJ said.
According to Bloomberg, Trump’s order augurs a dramatic shift on decades of US policy that had led to hefty penalties against blue-chip companies, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Airbus SE and Siemens AG.
The WSJ report further said that the Trump administration is reevaluating the definition of what constitutes a crime in some business conduct cases.
The primary beneficiaries of these changes are set to be US companies and citizens. However, it may also provide relief to overseas citizens and corporations facing charges in US courts, the report said.
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