Tagged: voluntary disclosure

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”)...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

DOJ Expands FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy

The Justice Department’s FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy was announced in November 2017 with much fanfare – it was the culmination of a step-by-step process beginning with the FCPA Pilot Program.  The FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy enshrined the potential benefit of a presumption of a declination if a corporation: (1) voluntarily disclosed the misconduct; (2) implemented timely and appropriate remediation; and (3) fully cooperated with the...

Five Key Takeaways from DOJ’s New FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy

In a significant FCPA enforcement development, DOJ’s Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Rod Rosenstein announced the implementation of a new FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy last week. (Here).  The announcement was not a surprise based on earlier statements made by DAG Rosenstein. Before outlining the specific five takeaways, there are a few issues surrounding the release of the new policy that require some comment. DAG Rosenstein implemented...

OFAC Pushes Iran Sanctions Enforcement

Many companies have been laser-focused on anti-corruption compliance, and with good reason given the risks and consequences of an anti-corruption enforcement action. In doing so, companies have to be careful to avoid ignoring sanctions risks, especially in the ever-evolving nature of sanctions rules and regulations. The Office of Foreign Asset Control is an enforcement agency that coordinates its investigations activity with the Department of Justice...