Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein spoke this morning at the American Conference Institute’s 35th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act regarding the Department’s approach to FCPA enforcement. The Deputy Attorney General discussed several recent corporate resolutions that proceeded under the DOJ’s new policy against “piling on,” pursuant to which the Department works jointly with other enforcement agencies with overlapping jurisdiction, both at home and abroad, to avoid duplicative penalties. He also discussed the formation of the Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud, a joint initiative of the DOJ, SEC, FTC, and CFPB to strengthen efforts to investigate and prosecute fraud. Lastly, the Deputy Attorney General announced a renewed focus on individual accountability in corporate cases, in order to deter future wrongdoing. Under the DOJ’s revised policy, any company seeking cooperation credit in criminal cases must identify every individual “substantially involved in or responsible for the criminal conduct.” The changes also restore some of the discretion that DOJ civil attorneys traditionally exercised with respect to the pursuit of culpable individuals, though a corporation is still expected to identify all wrongdoing by members of senior management or the board of directors to earn maximum credit.
DOJ speech (Rosenstein) | Executive Order establishing Fraud Task Force