DOJ issues unified policy
The Department of Justice rolled out a unified corporate self‑disclosure policy that incentivizes companies to come forward on compliance issues. The shift raises stakes for business owners and could change how firms approach internal audits and risk disclosure. (mondaq.com) (mondaq.com)
March 10, 2026 — the Department of Justice published its first-ever department-wide Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self‑Disclosure Policy (CEP), which applies to all non‑antitrust corporate criminal matters and supersedes component‑specific and U.S. Attorney’s Office policies. (justice.gov) The CEP formalizes a three‑path resolution framework: Path I (declination), Path II (reduced‑penalty resolutions such as non‑prosecution agreements for “near misses”), and Path III (prosecutorial discretion with more limited reductions). (reedsmith.com) Under Path I, DOJ will decline to prosecute companies that voluntarily self‑disclose, fully cooperate, and timely and appropriately remediate absent specified aggravating circumstances, and the CEP explicitly permits voluntary disclosures even before an internal investigation is complete. (reedsmith.com) The policy preserves a parallel focus on individual accountability and cross‑border coordination, a point underscored when DOJ announced on March 19, 2026 that it declined to prosecute France‑based Balt SAS while indicting two individuals and coordinating a resolution with France’s Parquet National Financier. (justice.gov) Pursuant to that March 19 resolution, Balt agreed to pay approximately $1.2 million in disgorgement under Part I of the CEP and implemented remedial measures as part of the coordinated settlement. (justice.gov) The CEP refines treatment of aggravating factors and allows declinations for companies with prior convictions where three conditions are met — immediate voluntary self‑disclosure, an effective compliance program at the time of misconduct and disclosure, and extraordinary cooperation and remediation. (ropesgray.com) DOJ leaders framed the CEP as a “One DOJ” approach building on the Criminal Division’s CEP origin (2016) and the May 2025 revisions, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva emphasizing transparency, cooperation, and remediation as guiding principles. (justice.gov)
