- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Kyle Brasseur2023-10-05T18:50:00
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) push to incentivize companies to voluntarily self-disclose potential misconduct reached its next stage in the form of a safe harbor policy regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
The policy, announced in a speech delivered Wednesday by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco at an industry event, will apply department-wide and offer the potential for companies to receive the presumption of a declination when coming forward with evidence of misconduct at an acquired entity. It includes specific timelines that must be met regarding disclosure and remediation to qualify.
The goal of the policy, said Monaco, is to make clear the DOJ does not want to discourage companies with effective compliance programs from lawfully acquiring businesses with ineffective compliance programs and a history of misconduct.
“Good companies—those that invest in strong compliance programs—will not be penalized for lawfully acquiring companies when they do their due diligence and discover and self-disclose misconduct,” she said.
The safe harbor only applies to criminal conduct discovered in M&A transactions. It does not apply to misconduct required to be disclosed, already public, or known to the DOJ.
To earn the presumption of a declination, companies must:
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT. To continue reading, choose one of the options below.
News and analysis for the well-informed compliance or audit exec. Select an option and click continue.
Annual Membership $499 Value offer
Full price one year membership with auto-renewal.
Membership $599
One-year only, no auto-renewal.
Proterial Cable America received a declination notice from the Department of Justice related to its voluntary self-disclosure and remediation of apparent fraud committed by its employees.
A long-running initiative by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission to modernize their joint merger guidelines reached its conclusion, following tens of thousands of public comments.
Pharmaceuticals company Lifecore Biomedical won’t face prosecution for apparent violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after satisfying multiple factors of the Department of Justice’s recently updated voluntary self-disclosure policy.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has a mandate from Trump to “take on the illness industrial complex” and to cut costs.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler will step down from his position as the top U.S. regulator of Wall Street when Donald Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20, ending weeks of speculation about his future.
President-elect Donald Trump announced he plans to appoint Cantor Fitzgerald President and CEO Howard Lutnick to lead the U.S. Commerce Department, as the incoming administration is expected to charge import tariffs against friends and foes.
