On October 28, 2021, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Lisa Monaco delivered a speech and issued a memorandum announcing several important changes to the Department of Justice (DOJ)'s corporate criminal enforcement policies and practices. These changes, which will apply to current and future corporate defendants, include:
1. Restoring prior DOJ guidance admonishing that, in order to receive any cooperation credit in resolutions, companies must provide all non-privileged information regarding all individuals involved in the wrongdoing-not just individuals who were substantially involved;
2. Signaling an increased willingness to impose corporate compliance monitors on companies when resolving criminal investigations;
3. Considering a company's entire history of misconduct-rather than only similar past misconduct-in deciding how to resolve a criminal investigation; and
4. Applying heightened scrutiny to companies' adherence to deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and non-prosecution agreements (NPAs), as well as demonstrating increased willingness to declare companies in breach of those agreements when warranted.
Taken together, these revisions signal DOJ's intent to pursue broader investigations and implement stricter enforcement measures than were the norm during the previous administration. We discuss each policy change in turn, followed by certain structural changes that DOJ plans to implement to support these initiatives.
To read the full alert, click here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.