Republican defended the decision, saying that he would bring “much more business to the US”
United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that suspends a law prohibiting US companies from paying bribes to foreign governments.
The decision, promulgated on Monday, also freezes criminal proceedings against Americans accused of violating the law, which has been in force since 1977.
The Republican defended the decision by saying that he would bring “much more business to the US,” he told journalists at the US presidency.
The president also plans to instruct the Attorney General Pam Bondi to review current and past actions related to this law, while preparing new guidelines for its implementation, according to a document cited by the US media.
In the document, the government argues that US national security depends on the country and US companies have “strategic commercial advantages worldwide.”
Trump is “preventing excessive and unpredictable application that makes US companies less competitive,” the presidency said.
The law of corruption practices abroad (FCPA) usually prohibits payments related to corruption of foreign authorities in exchange for obtaining or maintaining business.
Congress, the United States Parliament, promulgated FCPA in response to an investigation by the financial market regulator, after the Watergate scandal, which led to the fall of President Richard Nixon (1969-1974).
The investigation revealed that US companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars bribery foreign authorities to guarantee business abroad, the congressional investigation service said.
