Tagged: voluntary disclosure

19 Aug, 2024

DOJ Implements New Corporate Whistleblower Plan to Accelerate Corporate Criminal Enforcement (Part I of II)

DOJ is feeling the heat. Corporate criminal enforcement numbers are down. in fairness, DOJ has been pushing individual criminal enforcement as an effective deterrent to corporate misconduct. Criminal prosecutions, when done properly, take time. Every federal prosecutors know that you “win” your case at the investigation phase — cutting corners means greater risk of failure. in recognition of the “success” of federal whistleblower programs,...

Uncategorized

28 May, 2024

Life Sciences Company Escapes Criminal Charges for Employee’s Illegal Export Scheme

Sigma-Aldrich, Inc., d/b/a MilliporeSigma (“MilliporeSigma”), a U.S. life sciences company based in Massachusetts, escaped criminal charges for export control violations, despite a former sales person’s scheme to illegally export products to China. DOJ cited the favorable resolution as proof of the National Security Division’s commitment to its voluntary disclosure program. MilliporeSigma was the first company to resolve an investigation for export control violations under DOJ/NSD’s...

Uncategorized

30 Apr, 2024

DOJ Heralds New Voluntary Self-Disclosure Program for Individuals

By: Daniela Melendez, Associate at The Volkov Law Group, and Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Compliance Manager. Daniela can be reached at [email protected] and Alex can be reached out at [email protected]. On April 15, 2024 Nicole Argentieri, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and the Head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ’s”) Criminal Division, announced a new voluntary self-disclosure program for individuals complicit in certain types of organized...

General

10 Aug, 2023

Justice, Commerce and Treasury Departments Issue Comprehensive Tri-Party Voluntary Disclosure Guidelines for Sanctions and Export Control Violations

In another significant step notifying global businesses of the new realities – companies are about to face aggressive coordinated criminal and civil prosecutions for sanctions and export control violations. The last piece in launching this new effort was the announcement of a joint voluntary disclosure program to ensure alignment among the agencies for civil and criminal enforcement of such violations. The Joint Compliance Note (“JCN”)...

General

2 Mar, 2023

DOJ Rolls Out Voluntary Disclosure Program for US Attorneys’ Offices

The Justice Department is on a marketing campaign – pushing a simple message. If your company commits misconduct, come in and confess to the Justice Department. To push this message, DOJ has tinkered with its Corporate Enforcement Policy, and bent over backwards to encourage, cajole and persuade companies to come in and confess to misconduct. The Justice Department consists of various components and, unless you...

General

30 Jan, 2023

Justice Department Tweaks Corporate Enforcement Policy to Entice More Corporate Voluntary Disclosures

The Department of Justice announced revisions to its Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”) yet again in order to promote voluntary disclosures by Companies that discover potential wrongdoing. DOJ’s latest action demonstrated its commitment to several ideas: (1) Increasing prosecution of individual wrongdoers; (2) Offering benefits to companies to encourage self-reporting, cooperation and remediation; (3) Reducing the burdens on corporate shareholders from large fines and penalties that...

General

1 Nov, 2022

Navigating DOJ and OFAC Voluntary Disclosures for Sanctions Violations

The Department of Justice is pushing its commitment to voluntary disclosure programs. Companies, however, are not lining up at DOJ’s door. The balance between sitting tight or voluntary disclosures requires care. To complicate matters further, in certain cases, regulated companies have to face civil enforcement issues and coordinate voluntary disclosure programs offered by regulatory agencies. A perfect example of this dual track situation is compliance...

General

31 Oct, 2022

Voluntary Self-Disclosure — DOJ’s Enforcement Engine

The Department of Justice and many regulatory agencies have rolled out the red carpet for companies to cross the threshold and voluntarily disclose criminal conduct in the hopes of gaining leniency, immunity and reduced fines and penalties. From DOJ’s perspective, a voluntary disclosure program increases DOJ’s ability to prosecute more organizations and individuals engaged in wrongdoing. Whether DOJ’s voluntary disclosure efforts have been as successful...

General

26 Sep, 2022

DOJ Issues Sweeping New Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policy — A New Era of Compliance Begins with Increased Focus on Compensation and Incentives (Part I of IV)

The Biden Administration promised a new, aggressive approach to corporate crime. Well, the Justice Department just delivered a new, comprehensive policy that raises a number of issues, some of which are likely to be controversial. The new policy incorporates reforms announced last October that largely centered on prior corporate criminal and civil records; appointment of independent compliance monitors and expanding review of responsible persons in...

General

11 May, 2022

Sanctions Enforcement: “The New FCPA”

Hold onto your hats – while we are on the cusp of more FCPA enforcement actions, the Justice Department and OFAC are gearing up for real and significant sanctions enforcement actions. The dye is cast, so here we go. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco was recently quoted stating that sanctions enforcement is the “new FCPA.” This is not so surprising given the global crisis caused...