On December 6, 2021, the Biden Administration released the United States Strategy on Countering Corruption ("Strategy"), the first of its kind.1 This Strategy reaffirms the Biden Administration's focus on the fight against corruption and represents the culmination of an interagency review that began in June 2021, after President Biden issued a National Security Memorandum establishing the fight against corruption as a "core" national security interest.2

The ambitious Strategy calls for increased inter-agency and international coordination and information sharing with additional resources to be devoted to anti-corruption efforts, as well as the development of new guidance, strategy, and tools to improve the Administration's goal of combatting corruption in the global economy. The Strategy also targets key gatekeepers to the financial system, including lawyers, accountants, and others, by indicating that the Administration will consider working with Congress to secure additional authorities to cover gatekeepers and will consider ways to increase penalties on gatekeepers who facilitate corruption and money laundering. For example, the Administration plans on working with Congress to fix the current "[d]eficiencies in the U.S. regulatory framework" that allow these gatekeepers to move clients' funds around without understanding the nature or source of income of their clients.3

The Strategy outlines the Administration's intention to "evaluate and implement measures as needed to further safeguard our financial system, and [to] work with likeminded partners and relevant multilateral institutions to do the same."4 Specifically, the Administration plans to "make it harder to hide the proceeds of ill-gotten wealth in opaque corporate structures, reduce the ability of individuals involved in corrupt acts to launder funds through anonymous purchases of U.S. real estate," and "to vigorously enforce the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") and other statutory and regulatory regimes via criminal and civil enforcement actions."5

The release of the Strategy comes at a time of increased attention on anti-corruption and antimoney laundering ("AML") enforcement with top officials at the Department of Justice ("DOJ" or "the Department") making clear their intention to pursue harsher punishments and more robust international and domestic cooperation among foreign and domestic authorities. In light of this increased policy and enforcement attention, companies and financial institutions should take a fresh look at their existing compliance programs and consider improvements such as integrating their AML, sanctions, and anti-corruption functions to leverage information and proactively identify and manage risk.

Additional strategies and guidance on anti-corruption are expected to be released during the remainder of the Biden Administration. Currently, the Administration is reevaluating the criteria for government-to-government assistance on corruption and may issue additional strategies following further research on the topic.6 In addition, the DOJ's Corporate Crime Advisory Group, which we previously highlighted here, is currently reevaluating existing corporate enforcement policies, and is likely to announce additional guidance and policy changes associated with corporate enforcement generally.7

I. Overview of the Strategy

On June 3, 2021, President Biden issued a National Security Memorandum, which directed federal departments and agencies to conduct an interagency review of current anti-corruption policies in the United States and identify gaps in the "fight against corruption."8 As a result of the review, the Biden Administration announced on December 6, 2021, that it will focus on five pillars of work in combatting corruption:

  • Modernizing, coordinating, and resourcing U.S. Government efforts to fight corruption;
  • Curbing illicit finance;
  • Holding corrupt actors accountable;
  • Preserving and strengthening the multilateral anti-corruption architecture; and
  • Improving diplomatic engagement and leveraging foreign assistance resources to advance policy goals.9

Footnotes

1 The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption (Dec. 2021), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/United-States-Strategy-on-CounteringCorruption.pdf.

2 Biden: The Fight Against Foreign and Transnational Corruption Is a National Security Interest, WilmerHale (June 8, 2021), https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20210608-biden-the-fightagainst-foreign-and-transnational-corruption-is-a-national-security-interest.

3 United States Strategy on Countering Corruption at 23.

4 Id. at 8.

5 Id.

6 Id. at 13-15.

7 A Look Ahead into Corporate Enforcement in the Biden Administration , WilmerHale (Nov. 9, 2021), https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20211109-a-look-ahead-into-corporate-enforcement-inthe-biden-administration.

8 United States Strategy on Countering Corruption at 4.

9 Id. at 9-15.

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