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Justice Department Unifies Corporate Crime Policy, Offering Declinations for Timely Self‑Disclosure

The framework creates consistent incentives across DOJ components, rewarding early reporting, full cooperation and timely remediation.

Overview

  • The Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self‑Disclosure Policy now applies across all DOJ divisions and U.S. attorneys’ offices, superseding component‑specific policies except for antitrust matters.
  • The policy sets three resolution paths: declination for qualifying voluntary self‑disclosures; a ‘near‑miss’ track with non‑prosecution agreements, no monitor, and 50%–75% fine reductions; and a third path with fine reductions generally capped at 50%.
  • Companies receiving a declination must still pay disgorgement, forfeiture and restitution or victim compensation, and the DOJ will publicly disclose those outcomes.
  • Eligibility hinges on proactive cooperation and remediation, including rolling disclosures, identification of individuals, preservation and production of evidence (including ephemeral messaging), root‑cause analysis and appropriate discipline.
  • A whistleblower‑timing provision preserves declination eligibility if a company reports within 120 days of an internal tip, and the policy clarifies disclosures should be made to the appropriate DOJ component, with good‑faith misdirected disclosures still qualifying.