New York: After United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to pause enforcement of the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), speculations are rife that this move may be a relief for Indian billionaire, Gautam Adani.
This act makes it a crime for US businesses to bribe foreign officials. According to reports, this is the same act under which Adani had been charged. Trump, while signing the order, said the law puts companies at a disadvantage on the global stage.
The US President further ordered newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi to immediately stop actions taken under FCPA. This includes prosecutions of American individuals and companies who the Department of Justice (DoJ) had charged with bribing foreign government officials for business gains in the other countries.
“It sounds good on paper, but in practicality, it’s a disaster,” Trump said. “It means that if an American goes over to a foreign country and starts doing business over there, legally, legitimately or otherwise, it’s almost a guaranteed investigation indictment, and nobody wants to do business with the Americans because of it,” he added.
The new law, as claimed by the Trump administration, aims to restore American economic competitiveness by having Bondi draw up “revised, reasonable enforcement guidelines” for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, Reuters reported citing a White House fact sheet.
“American national security depends on America and its companies gaining strategic commercial advantages around the world, and President Trump is stopping excessive, unpredictable FCPA enforcement that makes American companies less competitive,” the fact sheet reportedly stated.
Shares of Adani Group soar
Following this announcement, shares of Adani Group companies surged on Tuesday. The shares of Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and Adani Green Energy climbed up to 4.5% on the BSE. Last year, the US Department of Justice, under President Joe Biden, charged Adani for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay over USD 250 million (about Rs 2,100 crore) bribe to Indian officials for solar power contracts. The same was allegedly kept hidden from the group’s US investors and banks, from which Adani raised bilions of dollars for the project.
