INTRODUCTION
For any company, the risk that employees or agents may engage in criminal conduct in connection with their work and thereby potentially expose the company (or at least the responsible individuals) to criminal, administrative, and/or civil liability is ever present; for multinational companies, which are necessarily subject to the laws of multiple jurisdictions, this risk is only heightened. How a company manages the risk of corporate criminal liability, in particular, can not only determine its success, but also protect (or imperil) its viability. The stakes do not get much higher than when the company is facing a criminal investigation or, worse, a criminal prosecution.
When armed government agents raid corporate offices, when executives are arrested and paraded before news cameras in handcuffs, when shareholders bring lawsuits alleging malfeasance and neglect on the part of directors and officers, when legislators clamor for corporate accountability in politically charged public hearings, and especially when criminal charges against the company are announced, the reality is stark—the company’s good name and culture are under attack, and its very existence may hang in the balance.
