Corporate Compliance Chiefs Gain ‘Stature’ in DOJ Policy Shift

The Justice Department is tightening its corporate resolution policies in an effort to give chief compliance officers greater authority to voice concerns internally about their company’s process for preventing misconduct.

DOJ’s Criminal Division will direct prosecutors to “consider requiring” chief compliance officers and CEOs to certify at the end of a settlement term that “the company’s compliance program is reasonably designed and implemented to detect and prevent violations of the law and is functioning effectively,” the division’s leader, Kenneth Polite, said at a conference of compliance professionals on Tuesday in Hollywood, Fla.

The step is designed to ensure CCOs “receive ...