In a guest post last year, Ryan McConnell and Charlotte Simon said it best:
‘Despite the clear benefits from an effective compliance program, statistics from the U.S. Sentencing Commission reveal that virtually every company convicted of violating federal law lacks an effective compliance program. From 1996 to 2009, only three companies received sentencing credit for having an effective compliance program. The rest either had no program or an ineffective one.’
Although the DOJ doesn’t tell us who it decides not to charge, the McConnell and Simon data does. The DOJ doesn’t charge corporations that have an effective compliance program. The most recent example was Morgan Stanley.
That raises questions about why some business groups are fighting so hard against the FCPA. Wouldn’t it be easier for their members to have effective compliance programs? And wouldn’t that be better for everyone?
Coming soon: What is an effective compliance program?
Hint — it’s pretty simple.
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