In March 2022, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite
announced that the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of
Justice (DOJ) will consider requiring CEOs and CCOs to certify the
effectiveness of their compliance programs at the end of a criminal
resolution. Following the announcement, Ropes & Gray surveyed
172 compliance professionals, including in-house officers,
government enforcers, corporate monitor team members and others, to
"take the temperature" of the compliance community: would
a certification requirement empower compliance programs and
departments, or would the potential harms outweigh the
benefits?
Our survey revealed that the compliance community is divided on
this issue. While 31% of respondents believe that a certification
requirement would make compliance programs more effective, 48%
believe that it would not, and 21% are uncertain. On the question
of whether a certification requirement would empower compliance
departments, respondents are
