Prosecuting a corporation for criminal offences has long been
criticized as potentially giving rise to a number of unfair and
unwarranted results. Usually the wrong-doing is attributed to one
or two individuals who have acted on their own and often well into
the past and are no longer associated with the company.
By prosecuting the entire company, a multitude of completely
innocent individuals can be harmed. Investors can lose their
investments, employees can lose their jobs, retired employees might
lose their pensions. A criminal conviction of a corporation can
have far-reaching repercussions, including being debarred from
bidding on government contracts domestically and internationally.
Many non-government requests for proposals now also have an
integrity requirement for companies submitting bids.