U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco delivered keynote remarks March 7 at the American Bar Association’s 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime. Emphasizing the need for a culture of compliance, Monaco highlighted the continued importance of existing DOJ programs, including those related to corporate claw backs, acquisition-related disclosures and voluntary self-disclosure.
Monaco also announced that the Department of Justice is designing a new whistleblower program that will use monetary rewards to strengthen corporate enforcement efforts and proactively incentivize individuals to report misconduct.
“The premise is simple: if an individual helps DOJ discover significant corporate or financial misconduct — otherwise unknown to [DOJ] — then the individual could qualify to receive a portion of the resulting forfeiture,” Monaco said in her prepared remarks announcing the program.
Payments to the whistleblower will be made only after all victims have been compensated. To qualify for the reward, the whistleblower must submit truthful information not already known to the government; must not be involved in the criminal activity itself; and must report in cases where there is not an existing financial disclosure incentive, including qui tam or other federal whistleblower programs.
The three areas of particular interest to DOJ in the pilot program are:
(1) Criminal abuses of the U.S. financial system;
(2) Foreign corruption cases outside the jurisdiction of the SEC, including FCPA violations by non-issuers and violations of the recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act; and
(3) Domestic corruption cases, especially involving illegal corporate payments to government officials.
The DOJ-run whistleblower rewards pilot program will be implemented in 90 days, with a formal start date later this year. This is a good reminder to companies to design compliance programs to address the DOJ’s recommendations and priorities. Companies can invest resources in their compliance programs, monitor and respond to hotline complaints, reward compliant behavior and cultivate a culture of compliance.
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