Department of Justice Announces Sweeping New Guidance at ECI's Annual Impact Conference

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Brian Benczkowski, announced new guidance before an audience of leading ethics and compliance practitioners at the Ethics & Compliance Initiative's (ECI) annual Impact conference.

The AAG focused his presentation on the importance of an effective corporate compliance program and how such programs can influence prosecutorial outcomes. "We hope this updated version provides additional insight to both prosecutors and companies with respect to the evaluation of compliance programs," Benczkowski stated.

"Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski was very clear that he and the Department are very committed to transparency with respect to the criteria by which the Department judges ethics and compliance programs," said Patricia J. Harned, CEO of ECI. "As the ethics & compliance industry, we welcome their further guidance and their interest in hearing feedback from the industry as to ongoing improvements."

ECI, a well established authority who has long set the standard for implementing effective compliance programs, recently launched an innovative tool which allows company to assess program performance. The High Quality Program (HQP) Assessment, the first measurement tool of its kind, has already assisted well over 300 companies since its launch this past March and is poised to be a valuable resource for companies eager to move beyond merely satisfying regulatory expectations and create a new standard for excellence.

About the Ethics & Compliance Initiative

The Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) is a non-profit organization that empowers organizations to build and sustain high-quality ethics and compliance programs. The organization provides research and a best practice community, as well as certification opportunities for ethics & compliance professionals. Through its membership, ECI represents entities across nearly every industry, located in 37 countries on six continents each dedicated to promoting the highest levels of integrity.. www.ethics.org

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SOURCE Ethics & Compliance Initiative