A Reverse Marshall Plan for Anti-Corruption: Liberal Democracies Can Fill the Void Left by The Changes in U.S. Policies

In light of changing U.S. priorities around the enforcement of anti-corruption laws, this paper argues for a “Reverse Marshall Plan” in which liberal democracies take the lead in rolling out an effective international anti-corruption regime with the potential to fully respond to any reduction in the United States’ enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

While the United States has played the leading role prosecuting violations of the FCPA, the international community has played an ever-increasing role in U.S. prosecutions. FCPA cases are now completely transnational in scope, with whistleblowers from over 135 countries being the key informants, and over 47 non-U.S. law enforcement agencies working hand-in-hand on the U.S. cases. 

Given the internationalization of FCPA enforcement, over 71% of all sanctions obtained in these cases concern corporations headquartered outside the U.S. The sanctions obtained from these non-U.S. companies topped $21 billion, all of which can be reinvested to benefit the victims of corruption, offset the costs of prosecutions, and fill the void in funding for NGOs and newspapers covering corruption issues. 

This paper sets out six steps which democracies should follow in order to implement a “Reverse Marshall Plan.” The steps are based on the successes of the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention and the growing international acceptance of highly effective detection and enforcement tactics used by U.S. prosecutors under the FCPA. Together these proven models provide a powerful foundation for liberal democracies (and other nations committed to anti-corruption) to pick-up where the U.S. left off.