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Jennifer N. Le

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Jennifer N. Le is an associate in the Government Contracts, Investigations and International Trade Practice Group in the firm's Los Angeles office.

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In December 2023, President Biden signed the new Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), closing a gap in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by criminalizing the “demand side” of foreign bribery. While the FCPA prohibits offering or paying bribes to foreign government officials, the FEPA made it illegal for foreign officials to solicit or accept bribes from U.S. entities or individuals. Less than a year after its enactment, Congress has quietly passed significant amendments to the new law, with the stated goal of removing “inconsistencies between the language of the FCPA and the FEPA [b]ecause these statutes are intended to be complementary, with parts of them addressing the same problem.” See 170 Cong. Rec. H4656-02, H4657.Continue Reading Congress’s Recent “Technical” Amendments to the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act Change Key Aspects of the New Law

Just one day after Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ’s” or “Department’s”) whistleblower pilot program on March 8, 2024, the DOJ’s Criminal Division highlighted its plans to apply the program in its fight against global corruption. Specifically, the Criminal Division described its plan to apply the new whistleblower initiatives to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) cases as part of its overarching priority of targeting the “most complex financial crimes and having the greatest possible impact on corporate conduct.”[1]Continue Reading DOJ Plans to Apply the New Whistleblower Rewards Pilot Program to FCPA Cases

On December 14, 2023, with bipartisan support, Congress passed the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (“FEPA”), making it a federal crime for any foreign government official to demand, receive, or agree to receive a bribe from a U.S. company or individual, or any person while in United States territory in exchange or in connection with obtaining or retaining business. The legislation is part of the National Defense Authorization Act, and is anticipated to be signed into law by President Biden. Considered by the law’s authors to be one of “the most sweeping and consequential foreign bribery laws in nearly half a century,” FEPA has “the potential to help root out foreign corruption at its source.”[1]Continue Reading Corrupt Foreign Leaders Now on the Hook for Bribery Charges: Congress Passes the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act

On September 29, 2023, Albemarle Corporation (“Albemarle”), a global chemical manufacturer, reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to resolve investigations into violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). This settlement is the culmination of a five-year investigation stemming from bribe payments made by Albemarle’s third-party sales representatives and employees of a subsidiary to government officials in Vietnam, Indonesia, and India to obtain government contracts in the chemical catalyst business between 2009 and 2017.Continue Reading Albermarle Agrees to Pay $218 Million to Settle Foreign Bribery Probe

At the Global Investigations Review Annual Meeting in New York on September 21, 2023, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Marshall Miller (“Miller”) delivered remarks that provide an invaluable glimpse into the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ’s”) current and forthcoming priorities and initiatives on corporate criminal enforcement. Miller’s remarks shed light on various key areas of DOJ’s enforcement focus, including DOJ’s continued encouragement of voluntary self-disclosure and increasing attention towards safeguarding national security interests. Miller also emphasized DOJ’s commitment to consistency, predictability and transparency in its corporate enforcement work with an aim that such commitment will help companies better predict outcomes for certain criminal violations and implement robust compliance programs to prevent criminal prosecution.Continue Reading A Look into DOJ’s Current Corporate Criminal Enforcement Landscape