In this article for the American Bar Association Antitrust Law
Section's Compliance and Ethics Committee newsletter, Lauren
Briggerman and co-author Sarah Flanagan (Associate General Counsel,
Global Director of Antitrust Compliance, and Head of Americas
Ethics and Legal Compliance at Intel) provide an overview of the
new Department of Justice (DOJ)-wide Mergers & Acquisitions
(M&A) Safe Harbor policy encouraging voluntary self-disclosure
of misconduct discovered during due diligence, announced in an
October 4 speech by Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Lisa O. Monaco.
That policy rewards acquiring companies with a presumption of
declined prosecution if they voluntarily report and remediate
criminal conduct uncovered during the due diligence process within
the safe harbor period, cooperate with DOJ's investigation, and
agree to disgorgement and restitution. While the new policy gives
acquiring companies increased certainty about when they may qualify
for a DOJ declination,