In part I of this two-part series, we provided a brief overview of the state of play of the criminal enforcement risks for compliance officers as well as some of the implications—both practical and legal—for companies and their compliance departments in the United States, France and the the Netherlands. We discussed that these three jurisdictions have no specific regime for holding compliance officers criminally liable for offenses committed on their watch. In part II, which will focus on recent trends in the United Kingdom, Germany and Ukraine, it will become clear that compliance officers are more and more likely to find themselves in the front line—if not as a suspect, then as key witnesses to assessing the company's compliance program as well as in relation to the (potential) criminal conduct. We will finish off with takeaways based on the developments discussed in relation to all six jurisdictions.

Germany: Considerable Criminal and Regulatory Exposure

Compliance officers are exposed to considerable criminal law risks in Germany.

Firstly, under German criminal law, a compliance officer can be held personally criminally liable for offenses committed by company employees, provided that the compliance officer at least suspected a crime was ongoing and deliberately looked the other way.