One of the more interesting trends in FCPA enforcement is the DOJ’s willingness to prosecute foreign companies and individuals. Some may argue that DOJ needs to focus on US companies which engage in foreign bribery and leave the prosecution of foreign companies to foreign prosecutors in their respective countries. Foreign companies become even more concerned when it comes to the prosecution of foreign officers and employees who are required to serve prison time in US jails.

This is not a new phenomena. In the criminal antitrust world, foreign companies and individuals have been prosecuted in the United States since the 1990s and no one has raised any significant complaints. Some argued that US prosecutors had no business charging foreign companies and individuals for actions outside the US, but courts uniformly rejected these arguments because global cartels have a direct impact on US consumers.