Understanding the Department of Justice's New Safe Harbor Policy

Litigation attorneys Megan Mocho and Jessica Magee co-authored an article for The Journal of Federal Agency Action analyzing a new safe harbor from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) related to voluntary self-disclosure of misconduct discovered during a merger and acquisition (M&A) transaction. Under the new policy, the DOJ will not prosecute acquiring companies that voluntarily disclose criminal conduct and cooperate with authorities during the subsequent investigation. Although welcome news for companies, the announcement comes with several requirements, such as meeting a six-month post-closing deadline to self-disclose, thorough cooperation through acts such as identifying and appropriately disciplining individual wrongdoers, fully remediating the conduct within one year of closing, and disgorging profits gained from the misconduct. In the article, the authors break down each of these requirements and provide practical next steps for companies.

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