The Department of Justice has released a memo outlining a vigorous new commitment to combating white collar crime.
Implicitly conceding its image problem in its handling of financial crime, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates outlined a set of seven new rules for federal prosecutors to adhere to, in her memo, “Individual Accountability For Corporate Wrongdoing.” The memo was reported by the New York Times.
Yates affirmed that “fighting corporate fraud and other misconduct is a top priority” and “our nation’s economy depends on effective enforcement of the civil and criminal laws that protect our financial system and, by extension, all our citizens.”
Yates then shifted from the philosophical to the literal: “One of the most effective ways to combat corporate misconduct is by seeking accountability from the individuals who perpetrated the wrongdoing,” a shock signal no doubt meant for bankers on Wall Street.
Yates acknowledged throughout the memo the intense problems of prosecuting large corporations and holding bad actors to account. She pressed that it was vital to focus on the prosecution of individuals, advising that “both criminal and civil corporate investigations should focus on individuals from the inception of the investigation,” and that “civil attorneys should consistently focus on individuals.”
She strove to make clear that financial prosecutions are not just about recouping money, but also justice. It said, “enforcement efforts are designed not only to return government money to the public … but also to hold the wrongdoers accountable and to deter future wrongdoing,” implying that DOJ has perhaps strayed from this joint mission in the past.
