arlier this month, the Department of Justice announced a new “department-wide” corporate criminal enforcement policy that it says will promote uniformity, predictability, and fairness in how it pursues corporate wrongdoing. The policy, which it labeled the Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure policy, is intended to incentivize companies to self-disclose wrongdoing and hold employees responsible in exchange for potential non-prosecution.
The core aspects of the new DOJ corporate enforcement policy (CEP) are individual accountability, voluntary self-disclosure, a standardized approach, aggravating factors, and incentives. The policy emphasizes that the corporate cooperation credit requires that all facts regarding individuals involved in the misconduct be revealed and provided. Companies that self-disclose can avoid criminal prosecution, unless the circumstances are extreme. The CEP applies to all company criminal matters handled by the department, excluding antitrust violations, and it replaces the inconsistent component-specific policies. However, aggravating factors like any involvement with senior management or pervasive misconduct may result in a declination of prosecution. Companies that self-disclose and cooperate regardless of whether they meet all the criteria may receive reductions in fines as high as 75 percent.
“This Department of Justice is committed to transparency and fairness, and our first-ever Department-wide corporate enforcement policy is yet another example of that,” said deputy attorney general Todd Blanche. “This policy draws on decades of experience across the Department and creates incentives for companies to come forward and do the right thing when misconduct occurs so that we may hold accountable the individual wrongdoers. Well-intentioned businesses know that, across the department, they will be rewarded when they self-disclose wrongdoing, cooperate with our investigations, and remediate the misconduct. But for those that do not, make no mistake — we will not hesitate to seek appropriate resolutions against companies and individuals alike that perpetrate white collar offenses that harm American interests.”
According to the DOJ, the main requirements for companies are prompt disclosure, remediation, and cooperation for the DOJ to deal with corporate crime in a consistent, transparent, and predictable environment. 