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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...