Owners and managers of American businesses large and small hear it from their lawyers, the Justice Department, an alphabet soup of federal agencies, state attorneys general, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission — design and implement an effective compliance program.
Just in case they didn’t get the message, the Sentencing Commission’s announcement this week that it has recommended Guideline amendments to Congress should act as a potent reminder. The good news for those of us concerned with the overcriminalization of free enterprise: actions of high-level company personnel no longer bar corporations from receiving compliance credit. Regretfully, the Commission created burdensome conditions for probation centered around compliance efforts, rejecting comments of WLF and others urging them to refrain from doing so. National Law Journal has this story on the amendments. The White Collar Crime Professor’s Blog has guest commentary from two Cadwalader attorneys. More blog analysis and an onslaught of law firm memos explaining the amendments are sure to follow.