On September 18, 2012, the DOJ issued its first Opinion Procedure Release of 2012 (Release), providing guidelines on whether a royal family member may be deemed a “foreign official” under the FCPA.  The definition of “foreign official” has been the subject of considerable debate and litigation in recent years.  Among the controversial issues is the DOJ’s view that “foreign officials” include employees of state-owned entities, a view that the district courts have generally accepted but that is currently being challenged before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.  See “Defendants in Haiti Teleco Case Urge the Eleventh Circuit to Limit ‘Instrumentalities’ to Entities that Perform Government Functions” (Jun. 6, 2012); and “U.S. Government Counters Foreign Official Challenge in the Eleventh Circuit” (Sep. 5, 2012).  This article describes the factual background and legal analysis in the Release.