Checking In On Joint Task Force Alpha
As highlighted in this prior post, in June 2021 U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland “announced a series of steps that the Department of Justice is taking to address the threats posed by both corruption and by transnational human smuggling and trafficking networks” in Central America.
Through the establishment of so-called “Joint Task Force Alpha” the goal was “to enhance U.S. enforcement efforts against the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.”
The “Yates Memo” – Nine Years Later
As highlighted in this prior post, in September 2015 then DOJ Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates delivered this speech and released this memo titled “Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing. (See here for the video of the speech). Like certain other prior DOJ policy memos, the memo took the name of the author and quickly became known as the “Yates Memo.”
The Yates Memo attracted substantial press, particularly the portion of the memo and associated speech that focused on individual liability for alleged corporate wrongdoing. (For instance, this post highlighted what others were saying about the Yates Memo).
Former DOJ FCPA Unit Chiefs Speak
Some think – or at least I’ve been told – that certain of my Foreign Corrupt Practices Act views are controversial or out of the “main stream” (whatever the “main stream” actually is or means).
For instance, recently I was a guest on a podcast (publication forthcoming) about FCPA enforcement activity and was told I have a “different” view than some on the amount of enforcement activity in recent years. I really didn’t know what to say other than that my views are factual and based on real data (see here for instance).
Regardless and more broadly, one of the interesting things about writing about the FCPA and related issues on a daily basis is that often a former FCPA enforcement official says the same thing about issues I was writing about years prior.
DOJ Seemingly Says – What The Heck, Let’s Try This Next
For at least the past 20 years, the Department of Justice has wanted business organizations to voluntarily disclose possible legal violations (in the FCPA context and otherwise) to the DOJ.
The DOJ has sought to encourage this through various non-binding policy guidance full of vague and ambiguous terms and concepts that seems to change every few years (in an apparent recognition that it existing policy may not be working as well as the DOJ hoped).
Recently, the DOJ announced that it is the process of establishing a whistleblower program. (See here).
DOJ’s New Whistleblower Pilot Program Aims to Generate Information About Corporate Wrongdoing, But Numerous Questions Remain
The following Covington attorneys contributed to this post: Steve Fagell, Nancy Kestenbaum, Aaron Lewis, Ashley Nyquist, Adam Studner, and Chas Hamilton.
On March 7, 2024, Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Lisa Monaco announced that DOJ is embarking on a “90-day sprint” to develop and implement a pilot program that will provide whistleblowers the chance to receive a monetary award in exchange for new information about “significant corporate or financial misconduct.”