International task force of France, the UK and Switzerland to combat corruption

On 20 March 2025, the Serious Fraud Office of the United Kingdom, the Swiss Attorney General and France's Parquet National Financier made a press release on the establishment of an international task force to prosecute corruption.

Without mentioning the pause of the application of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by President Trump (see Insight of 14 February 2025) the three top representatives of the law enforcement authorities emphasised that bribery and corruption pose a significant threat and cause serious damage and that they are therefore determined to combat these dangers within the national and international framework. They emphasised the importance of close cooperation between the law enforcement authorities of the three countries in the fight against cross-border corruption in particular.

The task force has set itself the goal of sharing its respective experiences in investigating and prosecuting corruption offences and making greater use of the possibility of international cooperation. It is planned to set up working groups both at leaders level for the purpose of regularly exchanging findings and strategies and at working level for co-operation in individual cases. Law enforcement authorities from other countries are invited to join this task force. It remains to be seen whether other law enforcement authorities, especially German ones, will join this initiative.

The establishment of the task force emphasises the importance of international cooperation, particularly in the fight against cross-border corruption. Although this does not create new legal possibilities for co-operation between law enforcement authorities, the establishment of the task force can remove practical obstacles and promote a faster exchange of information.

According to the Loi Sapin II, French companies or companies whose parent company is based in France must set up a compliance management system to prevent corruption and fulfil a range of preventive measures. This can also be the subject of official audits and inspections. Similarly, the strict liability provisions of the UK Bribery Act are intended to incentivise the implementation of a robust anti-corruption compliance system in the UK. As President Trump increasingly views the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as an instrument of national economic policy, companies are well advised to ensure a high level of effective anti-corruption compliance and to review existing processes to ensure that they still meet today's expectations and are sufficiently effective. Noerr's compliance experts will be happy to support you in this endeavour.