US President Donald Trump on Monday night repealed the century-old US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. The Adani Group was being investigated under this law. With the repeal of this law, the path to ending these fabricated charges against the group is now clear. On Monday night, Trump signed an executive order, calling the law a threat to American companies.
The US Justice Department has been ordered to stop prosecuting Americans accused of bribing foreign government officials to get business in their countries. Trump said the law sounds good, but it is causing a lot of harm to the country.
- The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 has been repealed in the US.
- The Adani Group was under investigation under this law.
- Trump signs executive order
- The law prohibiting bribes and gifts for deals was abolished.
- Trump said- This law weakens American companies
Trump called it a terrible law.
Donald Trump also wanted to repeal the FCPA during his first term. He called it a terrible law and said that the world was laughing at us for enforcing it. A White House fact sheet says that the law makes American companies less competitive, weakening them.
Trump’s order also emphasizes the need for strategic advantages in minerals, ports, and other key infrastructure around the world to enhance America’s national security. The fact sheet states that in 2024, the Justice Department and the Securities Exchange Commission filed 26 FCPA-related enforcement actions. At least 31 companies were under investigation by year’s end.
On Monday, 6 MPs demanded action against the Adani Group.
Apart from this, six US lawmakers on Monday wrote to the new Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding a review of the Adani Group investigation conducted during the Biden administration. They called it a wrong decision and said that it could adversely affect the relationship between the US and a strategically important country like India. MPs Lance Gooden, Pat Fallon, Mike Haridopoulos, Brandon Gill, William R. Timmons and Brian Babil said that the Justice Department’s action was a foolish decision that threatened to damage relations with a key partner like India. They called the entire action a campaign of deception.
Trump’s decision also led to a surge in Adani Group shares.
US President Donald Trump on Monday repealed the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA), under which the Adani Group was being investigated. With the repeal of this law, the way has now been paved for an end to the false allegations against the Adani Group. Trump called it a law that undermines American companies and signed an executive order to end it. After that, the US Justice Department was ordered not to prosecute Americans who are accused of taking bribes from government officials to get business abroad.
Last year, 8 people, including Adani, were charged with bribery.
In fact, last year in the US, eight people, including industrialist Gautam Adani, were charged with bribery worth billions of rupees. The United States Attorney’s Office says that Adani paid or planned to pay $265 million (about Rs. 2,200 crore) in bribes to Indian officials to secure solar energy contracts in the US.
The entire matter was related to Adani Group company Adani Green Energy Limited and another company. The case was filed in the federal court of New York on 24 October 2024. 8 people, including Gautam Adani and his nephew, were made accused in this case.
The MPs said-
This targets people who have contributed billions of dollars to our economy, creating thousands of jobs in our country. This decision is an attempt to destabilize the American economy. This is a major blow to American interests.
He said- We urge you (Pam Bondi) to investigate the Justice Department of the Biden administration. This department acted only in selected cases, while dropping many cases. This put our relations with our friendly country India at risk.
Adani Group called all the allegations baseless.
The Adani Group has denied all the allegations, saying that all these allegations were baseless. In a statement released on November 21, the group said, “The allegations made by the United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against the directors of Adani Green Energy Limited are baseless.”