Earlier this year, under the direction of the new Attorney General, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued new guidance for corporate compliance programs. This guidance applies when the DOJ is investigating a business and determining how to prosecute a business for federal crimes, such as certain types of fraud. The DOJ notes that the recently issued “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” updates the prior guidance and does not replace or substantially alter the investigation process.
Currently, federal prosecution of a business will follow the United States Attorney Manual, which provides factors for determining whether to charge a business, negotiate a plea, or come to some agreement. When making these determinations, the government will, among other items, evaluate the compliance program instituted by the business entity. The new guidance specifically pertains to the business compliance program pertaining to fraud prevention. The new fraud compliance guidance lists 11 topics to be evaluated by the DOJ, including Analysis and Remediation of Underlying Misconduct, Risk Assessment, Senior and Middle Management, and other topic areas.
The new guidance provides granularity and clarity regarding the DOJ evaluation of corporate compliance programs, when facing corporate criminal investigations. Although designed for corporate criminal investigations, this should guide companies implementing a compliance program, especially those in highly regulated industries, such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and securities. The updated factors issued by the DOJ can be found at the following link: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/page/file/937501/download
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