The U.S. Department of Justice’s new Whistleblower Rewards Program and its Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosures for Individuals will reshape the factors companies consider when investigating and disclosing any corporate or financial issue that may fall within DOJ’s purview. Both programs incentivize individuals who voluntarily provide the DOJ with original, nonpublic, truthful disclosures that allow DOJ to prosecute corporate wrongdoing. The Whistleblower Rewards Program, which has not yet been detailed, will serve as a nationwide access point for individuals to report issues for potential monetary gain. The Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosures for Individuals, which is already in effect, serves as a means for corporate insiders to report on their own misconduct in exchange for leniency. Although both programs will originate under the Criminal Division, the DOJ has signaled that it may eventually apply these programs across the department. Companies are left to navigate how these new programs affect their corporate compliance programs, investigative functions, and self-disclosure analyses.
Perkins Coie partners Shari Brandt, Chelsea Curfman, and Angie Jones, and counsel Nikhi Raj will provide an overview of the Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosures for Individuals and what may be expected under the Whistleblower Rewards Program, as well as the potential impacts of both. The presentation will also compare and contrast both programs with existing programs in place at other government agencies, and provide in-house counsel ways in which these new incentives may be incorporated programmatically, including what to consider at the start, during the pendency, and at the end of an internal investigation.