DOJ Going After Corporate Misconduct with New Advisory Group

Corporate misconduct and white-collar crime are on the radar of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), with new Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Lisa Monaco introducing several policies and forming a Corporate Crime Advisory Group to make further recommendations.

The intra-agency advisory group will be comprised of representatives from every part of DOJ involved in corporate criminal enforcement and will have a broad mandate that includes including recidivism and non-compliance, according to a DAG memorandum. The group will also advise on the best resources for enforcement and offer guidance on ensuring that individual accountability is prioritized.

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The move follows President Joe Biden’s recent executive order to increase corporate and individual accountability after the reduction in corporate monitorships during the Trump Administration, Monaco said during her keynote address at ABA's 36th National Institute on White Collar Crime. The DOJ is now renewing its emphasis on increasing corporate and individual accountability.

Monaco also announced several new policies to support the crackdown on corporate misconduct, including the reinstatement of a 2015 policy that emphasizes individual accountability. She emphasized in her speech that the DOJ’s first priority is “to prosecute the individuals who commit and profit from corporate malfeasance.”

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It’s anticipated that companies that violated the terms of deferred prosecution agreements will be one of the targets in the crackdown, principal associate deputy attorney-general John Carlin told Financial Times on Wednesday (Nov. 10). Carlin is working on the crackdown.

“There will be serious consequences,” Carlin told FT. “You should expect in the days, months, years to come an unprecedented focus by this attorney-general on corporate accountability,” he said, referring to U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland.

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