2020 Cross-Border Corporate Criminal Liability Survey
International businesses operate in an environment in which there is an expansion of corporate criminal liability and a trend toward imposing greater demands on corporate compliance and self-governance. Resolutions of criminal investigations that include a company's agreement to pay massive financial penalties are becoming increasingly common, as is political pressure to prosecute executives alleged to be responsible for corporate crimes. But while these directional trends are clear, the fact is there are significant differences in how countries around the world approach corporate criminal liability and how they enforce their laws.
This Survey is intended to aid multinational companies in assessing and mitigating foreign and cross-jurisdictional enforcement risk. It covers key corporate criminal laws and principles in 31 countries and territories around the globe, focusing on concepts such as if and when a corporation can be held criminally liable; potential penalties and collateral consequences associated with a corporate conviction; extraterritorial application of criminal laws; and the mitigating impact, if any, of having a corporate compliance program. It also depicts key aspects of the enforcement landscape, including the types of resolutions available; government guidance on prosecution decisions; government incentives to corporations (and whistleblowers) to report wrongdoing; and whether the country is known to cooperate with enforcement authorities in other countries.
