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Abstract

Recent trends in corporate criminal investigations have signaled a greater emphasis on data access and information disclosure. These trends, compounded by a significant increase in the extraterritorial enforcement of U.S. laws, will ultimately lead to rising demands for cross-border data transfers and processing. This Article seeks to investigate how U.S. law enforcement authorities should cope with foreign laws that restrict crossborder data transfers in the corporate investigation context. In this Article, laws that restrict the disclosure of investigation-related data to foreign regulators are collectively referred to as anti-investigative laws. Using China’s newly enacted Data Security Law and Personal Information Protection Law as case studies, I highlight the key features of antiinvestigative laws that threaten to obstruct global corporate enforcement. I then analyze how these features may affect the investigation and prosecution of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases involving China. Ultimately, this Article proposes a conflict-of-laws approach for FCPA enforcers to understand, evaluate, and balance conflicting compliance requirements in corporate enforcement actions.

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