NEW YORK (Reuters) -Federal prosecutors on Wednesday outlined details of a new Department of Justice policy designed to encourage companies to voluntarily report employee misconduct.
Under the policy, the DOJ will not seek guilty pleas from companies that meet its new guidelines for voluntary disclosures, the top federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Brooklyn said in a joint statement.
Companies that inform prosecutors of misconduct before it is publicly known, or before the DOJ has otherwise become aware of it, will be considered to have cooperated in most circumstances. Prosecutors may choose not to impose any criminal penalty, or a relatively light one, on the company.
“We hope that this new policy has a long-lasting, nationwide effect in promoting honest corporate culture and leads to more companies getting ahead of financial malfeasance before authorities come to them,” Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said in the statement.
There are some exceptions. Prosecutors may still seek guilty pleas from companies who cooperate if the misconduct threatens national security, if it is “deeply pervasive throughout the company,” or if it involves current executives.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
