On April 2, 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a press release and legal advisory reminding businesses operating in California that violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) are still actionable under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL), despite the Trump administration’s recent executive order implementing a pause on enforcement of the FCPA.
The FCPA prohibits companies with a connection to the United States from bribing foreign government officials for purposes of obtaining or retaining business. As discussed in our previous alert, the executive order implements a temporary 180-day pause during which the U.S. Attorney General is directed to review pending FCPA enforcement actions and issue updated enforcement guidelines. In the absence of federal enforcement, individual states and foreign jurisdictions are ramping up enforcement of their own anti-corruption laws.
California’s UCL broadly prohibits unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business practices and treats violations of other laws as a predicate for enforcement.1 Notably, a 2003 California Supreme Court opinion made specific reference to the Court of Appeals’ decision that a UCL claim may be predicated on FCPA violations.2 However, FCPA enforcement under the UCL differs from U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) enforcement in several ways:
- The UCL is a civil statute pursuant to which parties may face civil penalties, restitution, disgorgement, and injunctive relief, as compared to the criminal penalties available to the DOJ.
- Unlike the FCPA’s federal reach, a valid UCL claim requires injury in California—either injury to an in-state resident or injury caused by in-state conduct.
- The UCL also allows actions to be initiated by private plaintiffs, as a claim under the UCL can be brought by either the California Attorney General or a private plaintiff who has “suffered injury in fact and has lost money or property as a result of the unfair competition.”3
- The statute of limitations for UCL claims is four years, whereas the statute of limitations for FCPA claims is five years for anti-bribery provisions and six years for accounting provisions.
In connection with the announcement of the legal advisory, California Attorney General Bonta explained: “Bribery erodes consumer confidence in the market and rewards corruption instead of competition … I remind businesses in California that bribing foreign officials is illegal under California law and will not be tolerated.” Other states may follow California’s lead and increase local anti-corruption enforcement in response to the federal pause.
Given the changing and uncertain landscape of FCPA enforcement, companies are encouraged to continue strengthening their anti-corruption policies and procedures.
[1] Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.
[2] Korea Supply Co. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 29 Cal. 4th 1134, 1144 n.5 (2003).
[3] Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17204.
