In a recent speech at the Georgetown Law Center, the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Kenneth Polite, introduced the first significant changes to DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”) since 2017. These latest modifications to the CEP are part of the Department’s ongoing focus on corporate crime and specifically on increasing incentives for companies to self-report criminal misconduct and cooperate in investigations.
AAG Polite’s speech provided some anticipated detail to the Deputy Attorney General’s September 2022 announcement of a generally more aggressive approach to corporate criminal enforcement. After acknowledging that existing DOJ policy provides for a presumption that absent certain aggravating factors, criminal prosecution will be declined when a company voluntarily self-discloses, fully cooperates, and appropriately remediates, Polite clarified that companies are not presumed to qualify for a declination and, instead, must earn it.
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