FCPA Opinion Procedure Release 07-03 comes from an individual who wants to make a payment required by an Asian court to cover litigation-related expenses payable to a court-appointed administrator.
The Release notes that the payment is being made to a government entity, the court clerk’s office, rather than a foreign official. The FCPA only prohibits payments to foreign officials. Further, there is no evidence that the payment will benefit the court clerk or estate administrator personally. Finally, the payment is lawful under the laws of that foreign country. This lawfulnesses is one of the affirmative defenses under the FCPA.
