U.S. Sentencing Commission Votes to Amend Sentencing Guidelines Relating to Corporate Compliance and Ethics Programs

Stephen Gordon is a Partner in our Washington D.C. office.
Christopher Myers is a Partner in our Northern Virginia office.

On April 7, 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to amend the federal Sentencing Guidelines in several respects as they relate to corporate compliance and ethics programs. These amendments will take effect on November 1, 2010, unless Congress passes legislation rejecting them (which is extremely unlikely).

Reporting to the Board

The most significant amendment expands the situations in which a company's "culpability score" (and hence its criminal fine) can be reduced if the company has an effective compliance program. Currently, the Guidelines prohibit this reduction where either (i) the company unreasonably delayed reporting the offense to appropriate government authorities, or (ii) high-level personnel (a director, an executive officer or a person in charge of a major business unit) participated in, condoned or willfully ignored