The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice
("Division") now considers a company's compliance
program at the charging and sentencing stages in a criminal
antitrust investigation. The Division incorporated these changes
into the Justice Manual. The Division also published a guide for
evaluating compliance programs under this new approach.
Prior Division Approach to Investigations
While an effective compliance program has become a factor of
corporate criminal enforcement generally, the Division's
approach to criminal antitrust investigations remained unchanged
since the early 1990s. The Division's long-standing policy
would not give credit to a company for its compliance program at
the charging or sentencing stages of a criminal antitrust
investigation.
