President Donald Trump holds up an executive order relating to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the Oval Office at the White House, on Feb. 10 in Washington.Alex Brandon/The Associated Press

Martin Kenney, Markus Stadler and Tony McClements are, respectively, head of firm, of counsel and head of investigations at MKS Law, a British Virgin Islands law firm specializing in asset tracing and recovery.

As lawyers specializing in anti-fraud, anti-corruption and asset-recovery cases, we were shocked when U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced he was pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The 1977 Carter-era act makes it an offence to bribe foreign public officials. Mr. Trump has deemed it a “horrible law” and has directed the U.S. Attorney-General to publish revised guidelines and policies regarding enforcement.

However, as we contemplate his move and guess his motivations, Mr. Trump’s decision becomes less surprising. Therein might be an opportunity for Canada.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the United States was an outlier in criminalizing foreign bribery. Whereas companies in other countries could deduct their foreign “consulting” expenses........

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