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Policing Corporate Crime: The Dilemma Of Internal Compliance Programs, Michael Goldsmith, Chad W. King

Vanderbilt Law Review

In recent years, federal and state laws have sought to promote good corporate citizenship by encouraging business entities to establish internal compliance programs designed to avoid-or at least detect-illicit conduct. The most significant impetus toward effective internal corporate policing occurred in 1991, when the United States Sentencing Guidelines (Sentencing Guidelines) made the existence of an "effective" internal compliance program the sine qua non for receiving leniency upon conviction. As a result, corporations nationwide have sought to establish compliance programs that qualify for preferred treatment under federal law. Such programs, however, have produced an unanticipated dilemma for many businesses: when a …