The U.S. Department of Justice will continue to prosecute individuals for breaking anti-bribery laws, even as it takes a more lenient stance toward corporations, McGuireWoods partner Eric Olshan told Corporate Compliance Insights (CCI) in a March 11, 2026, Q&A.
Olshan discussed the Feb. 18, 2026, conviction of former coal executive Charles Hobson for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the lessons compliance professionals should take from it. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Olshan was part of the DOJ team that investigated Hobson and obtained the indictment against him in 2022.
Olshan told CCI that the Hobson case is just one example of the DOJ continuing to devote resources to foreign bribery investigations and prosecutions in the Trump administration. Some U.S. states, like California, and foreign jurisdictions, especially the United Kingdom and the European Union, are also now taking a keener interest in enforcing anti-bribery laws.
“A strong anti-corruption mindset should be at the core of any company’s culture. Full stop,” Olshan said, adding that C-suite executives and their boards “need to remember that prosecutors have a long memory, and more importantly, the FCPA’s bribery provisions have a five-year statute of limitations (six years for books-and-records violations), ensuring that conduct occurring right now in 2026 can be prosecuted well into the next administration.”