France Narrowly Avoids Abolition of its Version of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement

              In 2016 France adopted a law known universally as the Loi Sapin 2 as part of a thorough revamping of its national prosecutorial functions and in particular its ability to address transnational crime such as corruption and money laundering.  Earlier in the decade, many of Europe’s (and France’s) corporate icons such as industrial giant Alstom and petroleum giant Total had entered into humiliating guilty pleas or deferred prosecution agreements with the US Department of Justice where they paid huge fines for activity with few links to the United States, while French prosecutors did virtually nothing – and did not participate in the payouts.