New DOJ Policy To Prevent "Piling-On"

On May 9, 2018, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein introduced a new Department of Justice (DOJ) Policy on Coordination of Corporate Resolution Penalties (the Policy) while speaking at the New York City Bar White Collar Crime Institute. Rosenstein reiterated the DOJ’s commitment to “reinforcing its relationships with good corporate citizens” and explained that the Policy aimed to “discourage disproportionate enforcement of laws by multiple authorities”—what Rosenstein referred to as “piling on.”

As explained by Rosenstein, “[i]n highly regulated industries, a company may be accountable to multiple regulatory bodies. That creates a risk of repeated punishments that may exceed what is necessary to rectify the harm and deter future violations.” And this piling on can, in turn, “deprive a company of the benefits of certainty and finality ordinarily available through a full and final settlement.”