The board of directors’ audit committee agenda just got quite a bit busier, thanks to a new U.S. Department of Justice staffing decision.
On July 30, Fraud Section Chief Andrew Weissman disclosed the DOJ’s decision to create the position of “compliance counsel,” the specific role of which will be to help determine whether corporations subject to DOJ investigation have maintained a good faith compliance program. The DOJ’s Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations (a/k/a the “Filip Guidelines”) make it clear that the existence and effectiveness of a corporation’s pre-existing compliance program is a factor DOJ will take into consideration when making a prosecution decision. This perspective has been underscored in a series of recent public speeches by DOJ Criminal Division officials.