May 02, 2007

The U.S. Department of Justice, economic policeman to the world:

Telling your lies in Europe won’t necessarily help you, according to the two former prosecutors, who point to an increasingly aggressive assertion of jurisdiction by the DoJ. Three British bankers are awaiting trial in Texas on Enron-related allegations, while Ian Norris, the former chairman of Morgan Crucible, is appealing to the House of Lords against extradition to the United States in a price-fixing case. If you work for an American company, or if your company has issued stock in the US or is listed in the US or takes part in a cartel that affects the US, the DoJ reckons that you are in its bailiwick and are fair game.

“The US is looking to enforce the full extent of its jurisdiction,” Mr Berkowitz says [Latham & Watkins's Sean Berkowitz, formerly of DoJ].

That includes the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which was used against Statoil, the Norwegian oil company, which was accused of bribing Iranian officials.