Month in a Minute: May 2025

Hughes Hubbard’s anti-corruption “Month in a Minute” offers a summary of the biggest foreign corruption-related developments from the prior month. Month in a Minute is intended to provide a quick snapshot of the latest news and developments. We hope you find it a useful and perhaps even an enjoyable resource.

Highlights from May 2025 include the closing of corruption investigations involving Bombardier and Stryker, the U.S. Department of Justice’s announcement of corporate enforcement priorities and policy changes, and a sentencing related to the 1MDB bribery scheme.

[NOTE: Shortly before publishing, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche released a memo detailing the DOJ’s resumption of FCPA investigations and the revised guidelines for conducting such investigations. We will have more information on that development in a forthcoming client alert and in next month’s Month in a Minute.]

DOJ Drops Several Corporate Investigations

Bombardier

On May 1, 2025, Canadian aircraft and rail manufacturer Bombardier announced in a securities filing that the U.S. Department of Justice had closed two corruption investigations aimed at it. The DOJ was investigating both a 2013 contract for signaling equipment and services between Bombardier and Azerbaijan’s state rail company, Azerbaijan Railways ADY, and a separate contract involving the former CEO of Indonesian airline Garuda. The former CEO had been convicted by an Indonesian court on corruption and money laundering charges related to procurement deals, including the lease of a Bombardier aircraft. The DOJ informed Bombardier that it decided to close both investigations after a review of the matters and based on information the DOJ had learned to date.

Bombardier separately stated in its filing that it continues to cooperate with DOJ requests in a third investigation regarding the procurement of locomotives by South African train operator Transnet Freight Rail in 2014. In 2018, Bombardier Transportation South Africa was informed that South African authorities were investigating the transactions. Bombardier also reported that the World Bank is continuing its own audit of the Azerbaijan Railways ADY transaction. In 2018, the World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency issued a “show cause” letter to Bombardier alleging corruption, collusion, fraud and obstruction in connection with the ADY contract.

Stryker

On April 1, 2025, the DOJ informed Stryker, a U.S. medical technologies company, that the agency had closed its investigation into potential FCPA violations by Stryker without further action. According to its securities filing, Stryker continues to cooperate with the Securities and Exchange Commission and certain other unspecified regulators as Stryker investigates whether activities in unnamed countries violated the FCPA.

DOJ Revises Corporate Enforcement Policies

On May 12, 2025, the DOJ’s Criminal Division issued revisions to its Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (CEP), Monitor Selection Policy, and Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program (Whistleblower Pilot Program). The revisions were announced in a memo issued by Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, which also outlined the Criminal Division’s white-collar enforcement priorities.

Enforcement Priorities

In the memo, Galeotti identified 10 areas that the Criminal Division will prioritize when investigating and prosecuting white-collar crimes, including waste, fraud and abuse, including federal procurement fraud: trade and customs fraud, including tariff evasion: material support for foreign terrorist organizations, including designated cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and fraudulent conduct that threatens the country’s national security.

With respect to the FCPA, Galeotti’s memo suggests that, under the restarted enforcement of the FCPA, the Criminal Division will prioritize investigating and prosecuting bribery and associated money laundering that impacts U.S. national interests, undermines U.S. national security and harms the competitiveness of U.S. businesses. The focus on both the competitiveness of U.S. businesses and protecting U.S. national security is consistent with language in President Trump’s executive order announcing a temporary pause in FCPA enforcement and the attorney general’s February 2025 memo on the total elimination of cartels and TCOs. For additional information on the executive order pausing FCPA enforcement, please see our February 2025 edition.

Revisions to the CEP

The revised CEP has been organized into three parts. Part One states that the DOJ will not prosecute companies that (1) voluntarily self-disclose misconduct, (2) fully cooperate with the government’s investigation, and (3) timely and appropriately remediate the misconduct, as long as no aggravating circumstances are present. While the CEP does not define “aggravating circumstances,” companies can still receive a declination even when aggravating circumstances are present, depending on the severity of the circumstances and the company’s cooperation and remediation efforts.

Part Two states that companies that narrowly miss qualifying for a declination under Part One — either because their good faith self-disclosure does not qualify as a voluntary self-disclosure or because aggravating factors warrant a criminal resolution — will receive a non-prosecution agreement with a term of less than three years, a 75% reduction off of the low end of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (USSG) fine range, and no monitorship requirement.

Part Three states that companies that do not fall within the two prior groups may still receive a declination pursuant to prosecutorial discretion. However, such companies will not receive more than a 50% reduction in criminal penalties. For companies that fully cooperate and timely and appropriately remediate misconduct, there will be a presumption that any reduction will be taken from the low end of the USSG range. For companies that fail to fully cooperate and remediate, prosecutors will determine the reduction range based on the facts and circumstances of the case.

Limitations on Monitorships

The Memorandum on Selection of Monitors in Criminal Matters includes several significant changes to the standards and policies for imposing, selecting and managing monitors in criminal matters.

First, the DOJ revised the factors prosecutors must consider when determining the appropriateness of a monitor to include.

1. The nature and seriousness of the misconduct and the risk that it will recur and significantly impact US interests.

2. The presence and availability of other effective independent government oversight, such as regulatory bodies.

3. The effectiveness of the company’s compliance program and culture of compliance at the time of the resolution.

4. The maturity of the company’s controls and its ability to independently test and update its compliance program.

Second, monitorships must be appropriately tailored to address the risk of recurrence of the underlying misconduct while avoiding unnecessary burdens or costs on the company. To strike this balance, prosecutors must ensure that the monitor’s costs are proportionate to the severity of the underlying misconduct, the company’s revenue, and the company’s size and risk profile.

Third, to address costs, the DOJ announced that it will cap monitors’ hourly rates and that monitors must submit a proposed budget to the Criminal Division for approval before beginning their review. Finally, monitors must meet with the company and the Criminal Division twice a year to maximize alignment on the overall compliance approach.

Expansion of the Whistleblower Program

Updates to the DOJ Whistleblower Pilot Program include an expansion of the subject matter areas that a whistleblower’s information can pertain to in order to qualify under the Whistleblower Pilot Program. While the updated list did not remove any previously listed subject matter areas, the list now includes tips related to procurement and federal program fraud, federal healthcare fraud, trade, tariff and customs fraud, violations of federal immigration law, and violations involving sanctions material support of terrorist organizations, or those that facilitate cartels and transnational criminal organizations, including money laundering, narcotics and Controlled Substances Act violations.

Former Goldman Sachs Banker Sentenced for Role in 1MDB Scheme

On May 29, 2025, U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York sentenced ex-Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner to two years in prison for his role in the lMalaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) bribery scheme.

The 1MDB scheme is well documented, with prosecutions, investigations and enforcement actions spanning several jurisdictions, including the U.S., Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, and Switzerland As part of the 1MDB scheme, 1MDB officials, in concert with Goldman Sachs employees, including Leissner, raised $6.5 billion through bond sales Instead of being used for its stated purpose, approximately $2 billion of the proceeds from the bonds sales was used to bribe officials in Malaysia and elsewhere. An additional $1 billion of the proceeds was provided as kickbacks to Leissner and other individuals involved in the scheme.

In 2018, Leissner pled guilty to conspiring to violate the FCPA and conspiring to commit money laundering, for which he faced a maximum sentence of 25 years. At his sentencing hearing, both prosecutors and defense counsel highlighted Leissner’s cooperation with the DOJ’s investigation. Taking into account his cooperation, Judge Brodie sentenced Leissner to two years in prison and two years of supervised release. Leissner will begin serving his 24-month sentence on Sept. 15.

Fact of the Month

Tick tock tick tock . . On May 31, 1859, the giant clock at the top of Elizabeth Tower in London — commonly known as “Big Ben” - began ticking. With four faces each measuring 23 feet across, the clock along with the great bell inside, which first rang out on July 11, 1859, have made Big Ben into a cultural icon and a symbol synonymous with London itself.