DOJ Previews Changes to Corporate Misconduct Policy

On Oct. 6, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein delivered a major address previewing revisions to the U.S. Department of Justice’s corporate and executive prosecution policies. While noting that “deterrence requires enforcement,” Rosenstein stated that a planned change to the current DOJ corporate prosecution guidelines “will reflect our resolve to hold individuals accountable for corporate wrongdoing,” while reaffirming that the DOJ is committed to “fostering a culture that supports and promotes the investigation and prosecution of individual perpetrators of corporate fraud.”

Since the issuance of the so-called “Yates memorandum” by Obama administration Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in September 2015, officials at the DOJ have emphasized their strengthened efforts to hold individual wrongdoers accountable for corporate misconduct. Indeed, the day before Rosenstein spoke, the acting principal deputy chief of the DOJ’s Criminal Fraud Section stated publicly that government prosecutors in his unit currently are required to justify in writing any decision not to charge individuals when there is a purely corporate resolution. Similarly, the acting chief of the DOJ’s Criminal Fraud Section, Sandra Moser, remarked in July that the Criminal Fraud Section is “taking additional steps to enhance our enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) against both corporate and individual actors, and to promote transparency in doing so.”