Lawyers advising organizational clients on compliance matters should be familiar with recent amendments to Chapter 8 of the federal Sentencing Guidelines, promulgated by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. This chapter of the Sentencing Guidelines has long served as the structural foundation for internal self-policing efforts through a corporate compliance program. The new amendments, submitted to Congress on May 1, focus on two areas: the value attributed to a direct reporting relationship from the chief compliance officer to the board of directors, and “reasonable steps” an organization may implement as a response to criminal conduct and to prevent further criminal conduct.
The Sentencing Commission is an independent agency in the judicial branch of the federal government, responsible for developing national sentencing policies for the federal courts. It was established in 1984 by the Sentencing Reform Act, with the goal of ensuring that similar offenders who commit similar offenses receive similar sentences. Chapter 8 of the guidelines, which governs the sentencing of organizational defendants, went into effect in 1991, and it provides incentives for organizations to create meaningful compliance and ethics programs.
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