La Maison Blanche publie sa première stratégie nationale de lutte contre la corruption (« US Strategy on Countering Corruption »)
Actualités
Par Laurent Cohen-Tanugi et Martin Méric,
Laurent Cohen-Tanugi Avocats
Après un Mémorandum de sécurité nationale dédié au sujet signé le 3 juin 2021[i], Joe Biden est le premier président des Etats-Unis à publier le 6 décembre 2021 une stratégie nationale de lutte contre la corruption[ii]. Elle précède la journée internationale de lutte contre la corruption et le Sommet des démocraties organisé sous les auspices de la Maison Blanche le 9 décembre 2021.
Reflet de la dimension transnationale de la lutte anti-corruption[iii], cette stratégie se justifie en raison des effets délétères de ces pratiques (détournement des ressources, exacerbation des inégalités, érosion de l’Etat de droit et de la confiance des citoyens dans les institutions) [iv]. 88,6 milliards de dollars échappent ainsi chaque année au continent africain en raison de la corruption[v].
Les Etats-Unis insistent sur l’évaluation de l’intégrité du système financier, la nécessité de mettre fin à la dissimulation des ressources détournées via des structures sociétaires opaques, le rôle des outils diplomatiques (sanctions, coopération judiciaire internationale), l’application vigoureuse du Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), et le besoin de coopération avec les acteurs non étatiques et le secteur privé[vi]. La stratégie se décline en cinq piliers auxquels sont associées des « lines of efforts »[vii].
Pilier 1 : Moderniser, coordonner et soutenir les efforts du gouvernement américain dans la lutte contre la corruption
Les Etats-Unis souhaitent se maintenir comme leader mondial de la lutte contre la corruption. L’Administration Biden se propose pour cela de soutenir la recherche liée à la corruption[viii] et d’encourager le partage interne et international d’informations[ix]. La lutte contre la corruption sera intégrée parmi les priorités de l’action des départements et des agences du gouvernement américain comme le Département d’Etat ou le Trésor[x], qui se verront dotés de ressources adaptées à cette fin[xi]. Les Etats-Unis souhaitent également activer leurs services de renseignement pour qu’ils travaillent en coopération avec les autorités de poursuite américaines[xii].
Pilier 2 : Freiner la finance illicite
Les Etats-Unis insistent sur l’importance de la lutte contre le blanchiment pour mettre un terme aux vulnérabilités du système financier américain et international dont profitent les acteurs de la corruption[xiii].
Cela se traduit par le renforcement de la transparence relative aux bénéficiaires effectifs des structures sociétaires, aux marchés publics et aux transactions immobilières[xiv]. L’Administration Biden plaide pour des obligations de contrôle et des sanctions plus strictes pour les acteurs du monde financier qui facilitent la corruption (avocats, comptables, prestataires de services aux sociétés et trusts)[xv]. Elle promet une application agressive des lois anti-blanchiment contre ceux qui prêtent leur concours à de telles pratiques, notamment grâce à des moyens d’enquête, des programmes d’aide aux lanceurs d’alerte et une coopération internationale renforcés[xvi]. Elle soutiendra enfin les autres Etats dans la consolidation de leur régime anti-blanchiment[xvii].
Pilier 3 : Engager la responsabilité des acteurs de la corruption
La stratégie américaine met l’accent sur la responsabilité des personnes impliquées dans un schéma corruptif. Le FCPA sera toujours rigoureusement appliqué[xviii], et le Trésor sera doté d’un programme de récompense afin d’identifier les actifs détournés par les dirigeants étrangers au sein des institutions financières américaines et les restituer aux Etats dépossédés de leur ressource. La répression visera aussi la « demande de corruption » par les agents publics étrangers qui sera criminalisée[xix]. Les Etats-Unis se montrent favorables à des contrôles stricts s’agissant des « passeports dorés » par lesquels des Etats accordent un accès à leur système financier moyennant rémunération[xx].
La responsabilisation des acteurs de la corruption par le gouvernement américain passe également par le recours aux sanctions internationales ou aux restrictions de visas à coordonner entre les Etats[xxi]. L’initiative « Democracies Against Safe Havens » en faciliterait la coordination[xxii]. Les Etats-Unis soutiendront le renforcement de la capacité des Etats étrangers à poursuivre des faits de corruption[xxiii].
La stratégie américaine entend aussi s’appuyer sur le secteur privé en encourageant la mise en place de programmes de conformité anti-corruption efficaces au sein des entreprises[xxiv]. Les Etats-Unis s’engagent également à recourir aux travaux des journalistes d’investigation et des organisations de la société civile pour mener des poursuites, ainsi qu’à les soutenir contre des mesures de représailles[xxv].
Pilier 4 : Préserver et renforcer le cadre multilatéral de lutte contre la corruption
La stratégie américaine encourage les Etats étrangers à ratifier et mettre en œuvre les instruments internationaux de lutte contre la corruption, comme la Convention de l’OCDE du 17 décembre 1997 ou la Convention des Nations-Unies contre la corruption du 9 décembre 2003, afin que ces derniers se conforment à leurs obligations et poursuivent les auteurs ou complices de corruption[xxvi].
Les Etats-Unis entendent pour cela faire pression en faveur de mesures anticorruption, des contrôles plus stricts et une coopération, y compris judiciaire, approfondie dans toutes les instances multilatérales pertinentes (OCDE, Organisation des Etats américains, Nations-Unis, OTAN, G20 et G7, Open Government Partnership, institutions financières internationales comme la Banque mondiale)[xxvii].
Pilier 5 : Engager la diplomatie américaine dans la lutte contre la corruption
La stratégie américaine juge essentiels l’engagement diplomatique et l’assistance entre Etats pour lutter contre la corruption au niveau mondial[xxviii].
A cette fin, les Etats-Unis s’engagent à renforcer les capacités des Etats étrangers pour mettre un terme à la corruption[xxix]. Ils souhaitent également utiliser la voie diplomatique pour soutenir et protéger les acteurs de la lutte anti-corruption (journalistes, lanceurs d’alertes, organisations de la société civile), notamment contre les poursuites-bâillons (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, ou SLAPP)[xxx].
Enfin, les Etats-Unis mettent l’accent sur l’importance de la technologie pour prévenir et combattre la corruption[xxxi].
Notes de bas de page :
[i] The White House, Memorandum on Establishing the Fight Against Corruption as a Core United States National Security Interest, 3 juin 2021.
[ii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021.
Accessible: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/United-States-Strategy-on-Countering-Corruption.pdf
[iii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 8 (“While the U.S. Government has long recognized countering corruption as an important foreign policy goal, a growing understanding of corruption’s strategic impact and the increasing interconnectedness of the global economy underscores the need for a new approach. For the U.S. Government to effectively counter contemporary corruption, we must recognize the transnational dimensions of the challenge, and respond in a manner that is both systemic and tailored to local conditions”).
[iv] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 4 (“When government officials abuse public power for private gain, they do more than simply appropriate illicit wealth. Corruption robs citizens of equal access to vital services, denying the right to quality healthcare, public safety, and education. It degrades the business environment, subverts economic opportunity, and exacerbates inequality. It often contributes to human rights violations and abuses, and can drive migration. As a fundamental threat to the rule of law, corruption hollows out institutions, corrodes public trust, and fuels popular cynicism toward effective, accountable governance”).
[v] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 6 (“According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2020, for example, every year an estimated $88.6 billion—equivalent to 3.7 percent of Africa’s GDP—leaves the continent in the form of illicit capital flight”).
[vi] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 8 (“The United States will continue to evaluate and implement measures as needed to further safeguard our financial system, and will work with likeminded partners and relevant multilateral institutions to do the same. We will make it harder to hide the proceeds of ill-gotten wealth in opaque corporate structures, reduce the ability of individuals involved in corrupt acts to launder funds through anonymous purchases of U.S. real estate, and bolster asset recovery and seizure activities. We will innovate, adapt, partner, and learn, so as to maximize the potential for diplomatic tools, including foreign assistance and targeted sanctions, to stem corruption and to hold corrupt actors accountable, while expanding efforts to ensure that foreign assistance and engagement do not inadvertently contribute to corrupt practices. And we will continue to vigorously enforce the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other statutory and regulatory regimes via criminal and civil enforcement actions. Countering corruption is not a simple task. Changing embedded cultures of corruption requires significant political will, and achieving sustained progress can take decades. Positive change requires consistent leadership, public accountability, an empowered and impartial judiciary, and a diverse and independent media. Mindful of these realities, the United States will increase support to state and non-state partners committed to reform, boost the capacity of other governments to tackle corruption, and empower those, including activists, investigative journalists, and law enforcement on the front lines of exposing corrupt acts. We will bolster and promote public-private partnerships to more consistently bring in the private sector as critical actors in the fight against corruption, help level the playing field and improve the international business climate, and lead in international fora as we work to curb the ability of actors to hide ill-gotten wealth behind anonymity”).
[vii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 4 (“To curb corruption and its deleterious effects, the U.S. Government will organize its efforts around five mutually reinforcing pillars of work: · Modernizing, coordinating, and resourcing U.S. Government efforts to fight corruption; · Curbing illicit finance; · Holding corrupt actors accountable; · Preserving and strengthening the multilateral anti-corruption architecture; and, · Improving diplomatic engagement and leveraging foreign assistance resources to advance policy goals”).
[viii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 9 (“[…] we will enhance corruption related research, data collection, and analysis (Strategic Objective 1.1), seeking to use information more effectively to understand and map corruption networks and related proceeds, and dynamics, and tailor prevention and enforcementrelated actions, as well as build the evidence base around effective assistance approaches”).
[ix] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 9-10 (“We will improve information sharing domestically and internationally (Strategic Objective 1.2), coordinating efforts across federal, state, tribal, and local governments, as well as with international allies and partners. We will increase focus on the transnational dimensions of corruption (Strategic Objective 1.3) throughout our foreign assistance programming, diplomatic engagement, and partnerships”).
[x] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 10 (“[…] we will integrate anti-corruption considerations into regional, thematic, and sectoral priorities (Strategic Objective 1.5), including through new guidance, engagement in planning and budgetary processes, assistance reviews, strategic communications, and integration across other sectors”).
[xi] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 10 (“Engaging with the Congress to encourage adequate resourcing of the anti-corruption agenda through assistance and operational budgets”).
[xii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 10 (“Increasing intelligence prioritization, collection and analysis on corruption, corrupt actors, and their networks; […] Increasing law enforcement resources, and bolstering information sharing between the Intelligence Community and law enforcement”)
[xiii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 11 (“To counter corruption effectively around the globe, the U.S. Government must, at home and abroad, combat money laundering, illicit trafficking, and other forms of criminal activity that fuel corruption and allow criminal actors to launder and shelter the proceeds of their illicit activities”).
[xiv] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 11 (“We will therefore address deficiencies in the U.S. anti-money laundering regime (Strategic Objective 2.1), including by effectively collecting beneficial ownership information on those who control anonymous shell companies, and by increasing transparency in real estate transactions”).
[xv] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 11 (“Recognizing how quickly money and other commodities move across borders, we will also work with allies and partners to address governance weaknesses and other deficiencies (Strategic Objective 2.2), tighten global regimes, increase information sharing and law enforcement cooperation, and prevent the establishment of new safe havens as we work to close old ones […] Using existing authorities, and working with the Congress to expand authorities where necessary, to make sure that key gatekeepers to the financial system—including lawyers, accountants, and trust and company service providers—cannot evade scrutiny”).
[xvi] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 11 (“Bringing aggressive enforcement action, including relevant tax enforcement, against money launderers and those who enable launderers as appropriate, considering new legislation expanding criminal substantive law as needed, and expanding investigative tools as well as new information generated by whistleblower programs and enhanced beneficial owner information disclosure obligations”).
[xvii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 11 (“Working with partner countries, through diplomatic engagement, law enforcement cooperation, and capacity building, to strengthen their regimes”).
[xviii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 12 (“Continuing to vigorously pursue the enforcement of foreign bribery cases through the FCPA, money laundering charges, and forfeitures for promoting corrupt schemes and laundering corruption proceeds as appropriate”).
[xix] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 12 (“We will update the tools available to hold corrupt actors accountable at home and abroad (Strategic Objective 3.2), including by working with the Congress to criminalize the demand side of bribery by foreign public officials.”) et p. 26 (“Using a range of diplomatic and foreign assistance programming, the U.S. Government is committed to working with allies and partners on enacting legislation criminalizing the demand side of bribery, and enforcing new and existing laws, including in the countries where the bribery occurs”).
[xx] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 26 (“Departments and agencies will engage with foreign jurisdictions to address vulnerabilities created by Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programs. CBI programs attract investment by granting foreign investors citizenship rights in the country concerned—without requiring prior residency by the applicant. This additional nationality can undercut a cornerstone of AML/CFT regimes, as corrupt actors use CBI benefits to achieve enhanced access to the international financial system and visa-free mobility”).
[xxi] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 12 (“We will work with partners to create complementary regimes and amplify our efforts (Strategic Objective 3.3), coordinating and cooperating on tax enforcement, sanctions, visa restrictions, and other effective authorities and tools”).
[xxii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 12 (“Launching an interagency Democracies Against Safe Havens Initiative, led by State, that will engage partner countries to coordinate actions on law enforcement, sanctions, and visa restriction implementation, and on detecting and disrupting kleptocracy and foreign bribery”).
[xxiii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 29 (“Through DOJ, State, and USAID, the United States will deepen cooperation with and assistance to countries with the political will for meaningful anti-corruption efforts, including through the establishment of legal and regulatory frameworks, strengthening detection and capacity oversight, improving accountability institutions and processes, and strengthening justice and law enforcement, including, where appropriate, partnering with countries in joint investigations and prosecutions”).
[xxiv] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 30 (“United States will seek to enlist the private sector as a full-fledged partner in the fight against corruption, stimulating business self-regulation, promoting anti-corruption compliance measures, and unleashing private sector advocacy for anti-corruption reform”).
[xxv] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 30 (“The United States will boost its ongoing efforts to support, defend, and protect investigative journalists and other civil society and media actors on the front lines of the fight against corruption”) et p. 31 (“The United States will engage with non-governmental actors seeking to share actionable information with U.S. law enforcement and sanctions experts. The Administration is currently increasing support for civil society-led efforts to document and report on corruption in accordance with evidentiary support requirements for visa restrictions and sanctions mechanisms in the United States and internationally. The United States will provide a safe and enabling environment to those exposing, reporting on, and fighting corruption and, as appropriate, for their relatives and other close persons, and will support and protect any U.S. person who identifies, detects, or reports corruption and related offenses against any unjustified treatment”).
[xxvi] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 13 (“[…] we will bolster anti-corruption institutions and implementation of existing frameworks (Strategic Objective 4.1), including by implementing existing agreements, pushing partners to live up to their obligations, and holding accountable those who fail to do so”).
[xxvii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 13 (“We will also redouble our efforts in multilateral fora (Strategic Objective 4.2) to push for anti-corruption measures, advocate for strong corruption controls in any multilateral assistance, and expand and enhance our engagement in key venues [including] the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the United Nations, including through enhanced implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) […] NATO’s Building Integrity Program, […] G20 and G7, […] the Open Government Partnership and Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative”) et p. 32 (“Departments and agencies will place particular emphasis on pressing foreign partners to fulfill their obligations to criminalize and prosecute foreign bribery, given its effect on the ability of U.S businesses to compete fairly overseas”).
[xxviii] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 13 (“Diplomatic engagement, foreign assistance, including security sector assistance, and multilateral lending are central to the United States’ approach to countering corruption. Collectively, these activities can bolster partner government will and capacity to foster ethical behavior, strengthen legal regimes and ensure enforcement of anti-corruption measures, and organize effective mitigation of, and responses to, the use of strategic corruption, among other actions”).
[xxix] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 14 (“To address the global reach of corruption and its pernicious effects, we will elevate and expand the scale of diplomatic engagement and foreign assistance (Strategic Objective 5.1), including by enhancing partner governments’ capacities to fight corruption in cooperation with U.S. law enforcement authorities”).
[xxx] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 14 (“We will protect anti-corruption actors (Strategic Objective 5.2) and defend the freedom of expression of anti-corruption activists, whistleblowers, and investigative journalists”) et p. 35 (“Departments and agencies will work to counter nuisance suits against journalists and activists, and will seek additional authorities, working with the Congress if needed, to advance anti-SLAPP programs and policies. When possible, the United States will coordinate actions with partner countries taking similar steps”).
[xxxi] The White House, United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 6 décembre 2021, p. 14 (“We will leverage innovation in the fight against corruption (Strategic Objective 5.4), applying new approaches and technological tools to promote transparency and detect fraud and illicit finance”).