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Landmark bribery law passes US Congress

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse sponsored the bill. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) makes accepting or soliciting bribes from US entities a criminal offence for foreign officials.

A broad and bipartisan coalition of leaders worked together to develop and pass FEPA, and the law serves as the first expansion of US bribery and anti-corruption law in nearly 50 years.

The Act makes it a crime for a foreign official to demand or accept a bribe from an American