DOJ’S NEW ENFORCEMENT POLICY: WHAT IT MEANS FOR COMPANIES TODAY
On 10 March 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its new department-wide Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (2026 CEP), a single framework that “applies to all corporate criminal matters handled by the Department” except antitrust. The 2026 CEP is the first formal, codified policy of its kind to apply department-wide – reaching matters before Main Justice and all 93 of the US attorneys’ offices (USAOs).
The 2026 CEP, however, is not entirely novel. It codifies and builds on prior DOJ policies, including memoranda from deputy attorneys general dating back to 1999, the criminal division’s 2016 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Pilot Program, the 2023 US Attorneys’ Offices Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (2023 USAO VSD Policy), and the May 2025 revision to the Criminal Division Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (2025 Criminal Division CEP/VSD Policy). Effectively, the 2026 CEP adopts the structure of the 2025 Criminal Division CEP/VSD Policy and extends it across the entire department, standardising federal corporate enforcement for non-antitrust corporate criminal matters.
For matters before the criminal division, the 2026 CEP is largely a continuation of the May 2025 framework with targeted refinements, most notably broader self-reporting channels, a shift to a discretionary fine reduction in Part II, a broader recidivism aggravator and expanded cooperation obligations covering “officers, employees, and agents”. For matters before various USAOs or other DOJ components, the 2026 CEP marks a much larger shift: it replaces the 2023 USAO VSD Policy’s single-track approach with a detailed three-part tiered framework, broadens aggravating factors, and raises cooperation and remediation expectations. Across both categories of matters, the 2026 CEP provides companies with a detailed, standardised and predictable enforcement framework, but it imposes more strenuous requirements, meaning companies must invest more to earn favourable treatment.
Jul-Sep 2026 Issue
Ropes & Gray LLP