Clifford Chance
DOJ Issues New Guidance on Reduced Penalties for Voluntary Disclosure of Export Control and Sanctions Violations
19 October 2016
The Department of Justice has issued new guidance regarding the availability of reduced penalties for voluntary self-disclosure, full cooperation, and timely remediation of export control and trade sanctions violations. Along with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act "pilot program" and the Yates Memorandum, this guidance continues the DOJ's recent trend of incentivizing self-disclosure of corporate crime and raising the bar for cooperation credit.
The guidance provides that qualifying entities will be eligible for non-prosecution agreements, reduced monetary penalties, and the absence of a corporate monitor. To be eligible for such benefits, however, corporations must comply with the DOJ's stringent definitions of "voluntary disclosure," "full cooperation," and "timely and appropriate remediation," which include specific requirements regarding the timing and content of the disclosure, placing the burden for making disclosures of wilful violations to the DOJ on the reporting companies, the identification and production of documents and witnesses from outside the United States, and the implementation of an effective compliance program.
