DOJ Leadership Talks FCPA, White Collar Enforcement at the Annual ACI FCPA Conference

Multiple senior officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) took the stage at this week’s American Conference Institute’s 42nd Annual Conference on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Global Anti-Corruption. Despite the waves made earlier this year by President Trump’s executive order temporarily pausing FCPA enforcement, DOJ officials insisted that enforcement of the FCPA — and other criminal laws that apply to international business conduct — remains alive and well.

The keynote address, on December 4, came from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Mr. Blanche characterized white-collar enforcement as a top priority and outlined five principles that guide DOJ’s work: (1) holding individuals accountable for misconduct that can be imputed to an organization; (2) pursuing corporate criminal resolutions only when admissible evidence can support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; (3) crediting corporate cooperation with DOJ investigations; (4) making sure that investigations are efficient and disciplined; and (5) requiring a fair and orderly process for charging decisions, with appropriate deference to the line prosecutors and supervisors closest to a case.

With respect to FCPA enforcement, Mr. Blanche stated that DOJ’s work is not slowing down. While he acknowledged that DOJ had closed investigations and articulated specific focus areas in internal guidance to prosecutors earlier this year, he stressed that DOJ is committed to combatting foreign corruption that harms U.S. interests — regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator. He made clear that DOJ is not shying away from prosecuting FCPA cases. At the same time, he noted that DOJ will not seek to stretch the bounds of the FCPA by making a federal crime out of routine business courtesies, especially when only very low-dollar amounts are involved.¹

Mr. Blanche’s remarks highlighted several other priority enforcement areas for DOJ, including healthcare fraud, trade fraud, the use of digital assets to commit crimes or evade sanctions, and threats to the integrity of U.S. securities markets, such as from Chinese variable interest entities.

Although Mr. Blanche did not announce any new policies at the ACI Conference, he announced that an updated, department-wide corporate enforcement policy will be released soon.²

The conference also heard from Matthew Galeotti, Acting Assistant Attorney General and Head of the Criminal Division. In a fireside chat on December 3, Mr. Galeotti explained how the Criminal Division spent the first half of 2025 crafting and then articulating its white-collar enforcement program, including certain revised priorities and updated incentives for whistleblowers, voluntary self-disclosure, and corporate cooperation. According to Mr. Galeotti, the goal was to put a stable enforcement program in place with transparent policies to encourage companies to come forward and report misconduct to the government.

Mr. Galeotti suggested that one way DOJ is seeking to promote fairness in white-collar cases is to avoid charging a company with a crime when no individuals are held liable for the relevant misconduct. For example, he spoke about how it may be improper to charge an organization based on knowledge diffused across many employees, or to extract a corporate criminal resolution using the threat of a criminal trial against only the company. On the flip side, Mr. Galeotti noted that if a company does not wish to engage and negotiate with DOJ, then the outcome could be criminal charges. Mr. Galeotti added that he wanted the Criminal Division to operate efficiently, with targeted investigations and swift resolutions that would allow prosecutors to move on to other cases.

As for FCPA enforcement, Mr. Galeotti said that DOJ has returned to a “more traditional cadence” since the pause in the first half of 2025 and the announcement in June of new Guidelines for Investigations and Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Mr. Galeotti also addressed the perception that DOJ may be focusing FCPA enforcement on foreign companies, and said that DOJ will not base enforcement decisions on where a company is located but on whether the conduct at issue has an impact on the United States’ interests. He made clear that the DOJ will not hesitate to enforce the FCPA against U.S.-based companies where appropriate.

Also appearing at the conference was David Fuhr, who has been Chief of the DOJ’s FCPA Unit since 2023. Mr. Fuhr said that while the new FCPA enforcement guidelines identify certain priority areas, the DOJ is by no means limiting enforcement to those areas. Like Mr. Blanche and Mr. Galeotti, Mr. Fuhr noted that bribery by a U.S. company can undermine U.S. interests and warrant federal prosecution. Mr. Fuhr further stated that the volume of cases handled by the FCPA Unit has picked up in the second half of 2025, and that he expected a mix of corporate and individual enforcement actions to be announced in 2026.

The conference also heard from DOJ Criminal Division Senior Counsel Cody Herche, who discussed how the multi-agency Trade Fraud Task Force led by DOJ and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to use data analytics to identify tariff evasion schemes and prosecute cases. Mr. Herche drew a comparison to how the Criminal Division’s Health Care Fraud Unit proactively uses Medicare data to identify potential fraud schemes. 

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