On August 14, 2023, the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a rare advisory opinion addressing the permissibility of corporate-sponsored travel for foreign government officials under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”).
DOJ issued the advisory opinion under its FCPA opinion program, under which US issuers and domestic concerns may obtain advance opinions from the Attorney General regarding whether certain specified, prospective—not hypothetical—conduct conforms with the Department’s present enforcement policy regarding the FCPA’s antibribery provisions.1 The opinion release procedure has attracted few customers; DOJ has released only three opinions since 2014. While an opinion is not binding on anyone beyond the party requesting it, the DOJ’s opinions continue to offer important insights into how DOJ construes and applies the FCPA in practice.
DOJ issued its last FCPA opinion release in January 2022, which concerned an unusual scenario of a prospective…