Compliance Program Priorities That Endure

compliance

’Tis the season for speeches from Justice Department officials, as they reflect on the year’s enforcement activity — and these days, try to establish some sense of continuity even as the incoming Trump Administration portends a very different approach to corporate compliance and regulatory enforcement. Which brings us to a Justice Department speech delivered late…

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Four Reasons to Watch the Adani Case

Adani

Sometimes a tale of corporate corruption comes along that perfectly captures all the issues that ethics and compliance professionals face in our line of work. Such is the case with the Adani Group, and compliance officers everywhere should watch it closely; it could be a hugely telling case for corruption enforcement in 2025.  By now…

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Corporate Enforcement Policy Tweaked Again

Justice

The Justice Department is relaxing its approach to corporate criminal enforcement yet again, this time giving companies a bit more breathing room for what counts as “self-disclosure” and “significant profit” — all to further entice companies to step forward and admit legal violations, so that those violations can be resolved more quickly. Nicole Argentieri, deputy…

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Trump Justice Dept. Comes Into View

Justice

Compliance officers have a few more clues this week about what the incoming Trump Administration might mean for corporate compliance programs, although we still have many questions still outstanding too. Today let’s take a fresh look at what we do know, what we still don’t, and what we could deduce about the gap between those…

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Justice Dept. Talks AI Concerns

deepfakes

The Justice Department wants companies tinkering with artificial intelligence to be more open-minded about testing their AI systems and products for vulnerabilities, and specifically wants them to adopt a “vulnerability disclosure program” much the same way tech companies already disclose software bugs. So says Nicole Argentieri, head of the Criminal Division, who delivered a speech…

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Concerns Over Access to Data

data

Today let’s return to the Justice Department’s newly revised guidance for effective corporate compliance programs. Specifically, let’s give a close analysis of what those updates say about compliance officers’ access to data and IT systems.  For starters we should appreciate why access to data is such an important issue for the Justice Department at all.…

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Revamped Compliance Program Guidance!

Justice

The Justice Department is rolling out fresh guidance for how it evaluates corporate compliance programs, with new sections addressing artificial intelligence, a company’s speakup culture, and whether compliance teams have sufficient access to the data they need to keep their programs on the right path. The head of the department’s Criminal Division, Nicole Argentieri, announced…

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More Thoughts on Whistleblower Awards

whistleblower

Today let’s revisit the Justice Department’s whistleblower awards program, first announced 10 days ago. Since then we’ve all had time to contemplate the program’s implications, several of which deserve compliance professionals’ attention. Let’s begin with the question most important to compliance professionals: Will the existence of this awards program drive would-be whistleblowers not to report…

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Podcast: Do DPAs Really Work?

Justice

Today we have another Radical Compliance podcast, trying to unpack a question near to the hearts of compliance professionals everywhere: Do deferred-prosecution agreements really work to improve corporate behavior?  This issue has been on my mind lately because federal prosecutors recently accused Boeing of breaching the DPA it struck in 2021 to settle criminal charges…

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Justice Department Eyes AI Risks

deepfakes

Last week the Justice Department announced that it will cast a more critical eye at abuses of artificial intelligence. Today let’s unpack what that news means for compliance officers in practice, and how you might need to adjust your compliance program to accommodate this brave new AI world. The pledge about increased scrutiny of AI…

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