The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Chapter 8 Revisions of 2010: What does it mean for you and your company?
The U.S. Sentencing Commission issued final comments on revisions they are proposing to Chapter 8 – the Corporate Sentencing Guidelines – of the U.S. Sentencing Manual. As most of you know, the Guidelines are relatively rarely applied to companies at sentencing – most criminal allegations are settled or otherwise resolved before adjudication and formal sentencing. The real power of the Guidelines is in its proffer of what constitutes an effective corporate compliance program that someone (like a prosecutor or regulator) might consider as a mitigating factor when assessing the company’s culpability or that someone (like a compliance leader in the company) might lean on to help define the benchmarks of effective corporate compliance initiatives.
Indeed, rather than being the regular stuff of Sentencing, Chapter 8 is consulted by corporate compliance leaders who wish to adopt standards that are recognized as worthy, and by prosecutors, regulators, and other stakeholders who wish to assess whether they believe the company should be held responsible for the acts of individuals who committed crimes or harmed others.
ACC filed comments with the USSC and offered testimony before the Commissioners (on March 17, 2010, offering supplemental comments on March 26) in an effort to address our members’ concerns with some of the proposed changes. We are gratified that the Commission incorporated much of what ACC asked for and look forward to working with the Commission on future proposals.
For a full discussion of what the Commission proposed, what ACC suggested in response, and the final amendments that will now go to Congress and become law, please read.
