DOJ Quotable
A collection of quotes from high-ranking DOJ officials.
“[O]ur mission [is to] enforce the criminal laws that govern corporations, executives, officers and others, in order to protect jobs, guard savings and maintain our collective faith in the economic engine that fuels this country. We will hold those that break the law accountable and promote respect for the laws designed to protect investors, consumers and employees.”
“The department cannot measure its success merely in terms of prosecutions, trials, and convictions. Success includes crime prevention. A more compliant, ethical corporate world is a safer world – one that advances America’s interests writ large.”
“[T]he prosecution of corporate crime is a Justice Department priority. Nor does anyone need to tell this audience why that is so. Fraud, theft, corruption, bribery, environmental crime, market manipulation, and anticompetitive agreements threaten the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based. They decimate the assets of individuals, organizations, and governments alike. And they increase costs for every American.”
DOJ Criminal Division Announces “White-Collar Enforcement Plan”
For at least the past 20 years, the Department of Justice under all administrations has articulated various policies relevant to “white collar crime.”
The policies have all generally encouraged voluntary disclosure and cooperation with a pledge to treat business organizations that do those things less harshly than if the DOJ finds out about potential criminal activity through other ways.
The most recent example occurred yesterday in the form of this speech by Matthew Galeotti (Head of the DOJ Criminal Division) at a financial crime conference.
Galeotti began:
SEC Commissioner Peirce On The SEC’s “Limited Mission”
This site is a big fan of SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and has occasionally highlighted her informed and candid commentary on various aspects of SEC enforcement.
In this recent speech, Peirce rightly noted that the SEC has a “limited mission.” She stated that the “mission is serving the investors who entrust their money to other people by facilitating the provision of disclosure necessary for investment decisions” and ensuring “that investors have the information they need to channel funds to the companies that can put that money to the best use by delivering the products and services people demand.”
Peirce then offered various steps as a “path toward more level, predictable terrain” for public companies.
One step “would be for the SEC to refrain from using enforcement actions to override managerial decision-making.” She stated:
Meanwhile … At The FCPA’s “Dog And Pony Show”
The FCPA “dog and pony” show took place last week.
This year it was Chief Counselor Brent Wible who delivered the DOJ speech.
Topics addressed included looking “back at [the DOJ’s] achievements [in 2024] in the fight against foreign bribery; holding culpable individuals accountable; securing impactful corporate resolutions; and advancing the department’s corporate enforcement priorities and policies.”
Wible stated:
Another Day, Another DOJ Speech
Another day, another speech by a Department of Justice official.
This time it was Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Marshall Miller with this speech at the New York City Bar Association Compliance Institute.
Miller stated that the purpose of his speech was to “take stock of the Department’s programmatic overhaul of corporate criminal enforcement in recent years, to discuss how that overhaul is designed to empower compliance programs and professionals, and to take a look around the corner to what’s ahead.”
Miller began: