The Department of Justice’s Focus, Fairness, and Efficiency in the Fight Against White-Collar Crime memorandum released on May 12, 2025, signals a shift in DOJ corporate criminal enforcement. The memorandum signals a shift from past DOJ directives and focus, recognizing that ”not all corporate misconduct warrants federal criminal prosecution,” that “prosecution of individuals, as well as civil and administrative remedies directed at corporations, are often appropriate to address low-level corporate misconduct and vindicate U.S. interests,” and that DOJ “must strike an appropriate balance between the need to effectively identify, investigate, and prosecute corporate and individuals’ criminal wrongdoing while minimizing unnecessary burdens on American enterprise.”
The memorandum further directs that “Going forward, when entering into a corporate resolution with companies that cooperate and remediate, Criminal Division prosecutors must impose a term that is appropriate and necessary in light of, among other things, the severity of the misconduct, the company’s degree of cooperation and remediation, and the effectiveness of the company’s compliance program at the time of resolution. These terms should not be longer than three years except in exceedingly rare cases, and Criminal Division prosecutors should assess these agreements regularly to determine if they should be terminated early.”
The prosecutorial focus now is on the strength of a business’s compliance programs, the speed with which it reports misconduct, and the degree of its cooperation with DOJ, which if satisfied might cause prosecutors to offer materially reduced penalties, and in some circumstances declinations. Consequently, the DOJ seems to shift the focus more toward more agile internal reporting channels and decision-making frameworks so that businesses can swiftly evaluate potential misconduct and, where warranted, approach the DOJ within a compressed timeline.
