US Federal Sentencing Guidelines impose harsh penalties upon organizations whose employees or other agents have committed federal crimes. Fortunately, for those conducting business under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, there is guidance to help businesses establish the proper framework for ensuring compliance with anti-bribery laws or any other government regulation.
In the event of non-compliance on the part of a company employee or any third-party intermediary resulting in the indictment of the parent company, the burden of proof will essentially lie with the company to demonstrate it did whatever it could to prevent illegal activity from occurring. That is, in order to receive a lighter sentence (or no sentence at all), the company will be required to demonstrate that it maintained the proper procedures for detecting wrongdoing and that the employee or third-party was so deceitful and unscrupulous that their actions could not have reasonably been prevented.
● Guidelines for Lighter Sentencing ►
Under the sentencing guidelines, in order to receive a 'lighter' sentence in the face of prosecution, a company must demonstrate it adhered to the following criteria:
- The person or persons with operational responsibility for the compliance and ethics program must have "direct reporting obligations to the governing authority or an appropriate sub-group," such as an audit committee
- The compliance program must have detected the offense before any outsiders did or "before such discovery was reasonably likely"
- The company must have promptly reported the offense to appropriate governmental authorities
- Nobody in charge of the ethics and compliance program either participated in the misconduct, condoned it, or deliberately ignored it
● EthicsPoint's Solution ►
All of our solutions feature:
- Third-Party Risk Assessment QuickStart Services
- Case Management
- FCPA and/or UK Bribery Act Compliance Attestation
- Gifts & Entertainment Disclosure Monitoring
- Conflict of Interest Disclosure Monitoring
- Whistleblower hotline
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● Request a Demo ►
The process of addressing the risks associated with Federal Sentencing Guidelines is overwhelming but nonetheless necessary. The consequences of not properly addressing internal and third-party risks can have a tremendously negative impact on a company’s ability to remain viable. Moreover, the costs neglecting to address these risks far outweigh the costs of implementing an effective framework. Those companies that remain proactive in their risk mitigation efforts will find themselves more efficient and better positioned to focus resources on remaining competitive.
For more information on implementing a comprehensive and effective Federal Sentencing Guidelines compliance program, Request a Demo of EthicsPoint's solutions.
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