The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on March 3, 2023, unveiled a new pilot program and announced several important updates to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP) regarding corporate compensation incentives and clawbacks. These updates build on and clarify Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Lisa Monaco’s policy announcements from September 2022 regarding corporate criminal enforcement.
This most recent guidance provides valuable insight into the DOJ’s expectations regarding compliance-conscious compensation. However, implementing this guidance will require navigating complex issues of labor and employment law, both domestic and foreign, and will produce potentially significant shifts in corporate culture around compensation.
The Pilot Program
The first-ever Pilot Program Regarding Compensation Incentives and Clawbacks is a three-year program that applies to all corporate matters handled by the DOJ’s Criminal Division. While this program only directly implicates corporate criminal resolutions, it provides important information regarding compensation incentives and rewards that the DOJ believes are most critical to a culture of compliance. The Pilot Program took effect on March 15, 2023, and consists of two parts.
Part one specifies that every corporate resolution involving the Criminal Division must include a requirement that the resolving company develop compliance-promoting criteria within its compensation and bonus system. These criteria may include such...
On September 18, 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release announcing two revisions to the Justice Manual—which publicly sets forth internal DOJ policies and procedures—concernin...