Earlier this week, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a new white collar enforcement plan (Enforcement Plan) outlining changes to the Criminal Division’s white collar enforcement priorities to align more closely with the goals of the Trump administration. The Enforcement Plan, titled “Focus, Fairness, and Efficiency in the Fight Against White-Collar Crime,” was issued by Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the DOJ Criminal Division, and focuses on issues central to the “America First” agenda, including trade and customs fraud; tariff evasion; and unlawful support to cartels, transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). The DOJ also signaled that it will become more active in investigating violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) related to the unlawful manufacture of chemicals and equipment used to create illegal narcotics, as well as money laundering operations related to the manufacture of illegal narcotics. In particular, the DOJ singled out “bribery and associated money laundering that impact US national interests, undermine US national security, harm the competitiveness of U.S. businesses, and enrich foreign corrupt officials” as an area of focus.
The Enforcement Plan also sets forth new policies and procedures that the DOJ should follow when conducting investigations and imposing penalties. In particular, the DOJ will scale back the use of independent compliance monitors by directing monitorships to be used only when “narrowly tailored to achieve the necessary goals while minimizing expense, burden, and interference with the business.”
Areas of Focus
The Enforcement Plan identifies 10 areas of focus for white collar enforcement:
- Waste, fraud, and abuse related to government programs, including healthcare fraud.
- Trade and customs fraud, including individuals who commit tariff evasion.
- Fraud perpetuated through variable interest entities (VIEs), including offering fraud, “ramp and dumps,” elder fraud, securities fraud, and other market manipulation fraud.
- Fraud designed to impact the health and safety of consumers, including Ponzi schemes, investment fraud, servicemember fraud, and elder fraud.
- Conduct that threatens national security, including financial institutions that commit sanctions violations or enable transactions by cartels, TCOs, hostile nation-states, and/or FTOs.
- Business and financial institutions that provide material support to FTOs, including cartels and TCOs.
- Money laundering, including Chinese money laundering organizations that launder funds used in the manufacturing of illegal drugs.
- Violations of the CSA or the FDCA that relate to the unlawful manufacture and distribution of chemicals and equipment used to create pills laced with fentanyl and opioids.
- Bribery and money laundering that impact US national interests, undermine US national security, harm the competitiveness of US businesses, and enrich corrupt foreign officials.
- Crimes involving digital assets that victimize investors and consumers, use digital assets in furtherance of criminal conduct, or facilitate criminal activity.
On February 10, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order that temporarily paused Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, but this announcement signals that the DOJ will continue to investigate bribery and money laundering to the extent those activities impact US national interests.
The DOJ also announced updates to the Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to permit whistleblowers to recover an award if a forfeiture results from a tip related to its key areas of focus, including fraud against the US in connection with healthcare benefit programs or other federal programs, immigration law, and offenses with a national security nexus, such as sanctions violations and material support or assistance to FTOs or TCOs.
The Fairness of Investigations and Penalties
The Enforcement Plan also outlined policies and procedures concerning the DOJ’s investigation and prosecution of white collar offenders. Major policies highlighted in the Enforcement Plan include:
- The DOJ emphasized that it will focus its white collar enforcement on prosecuting individuals who commit white collar crimes rather than on prosecuting corporations. The focus on individuals as opposed to corporations will reduce business disruption as a result of DOJ investigatory activity.
- The DOJ will be more open to noncriminal resolutions of corporate misconduct. Specifically, to address low-level corporate misconduct, civil and administrative remedies may be more appropriate than criminal prosecution. When criminal resolution is necessary, the DOJ should consider non-prosecution agreements, deferred prosecution agreements, and guilty pleas.
- Companies that self-disclose in accordance with the Criminal Division’s Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (CEP) and cooperate with prosecutors should receive additional benefits when the DOJ considers an appropriate penalty. Key changes were made to the CEP to make more clear to companies the benefits of and incentives for self-disclosure of misconduct to the DOJ.
- The DOJ will review the length and terms of all existing agreements with companies to determine if they should be terminated early. Moving forward, when the DOJ enters into a corporate resolution in a white collar enforcement action with a company that cooperates and remediates, the term of a compliance program should not exceed three years “except in exceedingly rare cases,” and the agreements should be assessed regularly to determine if early termination is appropriate.
Increasing Efficiency of White Collar Investigations
Finally, the DOJ announced various ways in which it plans to increase the efficiency of its white collar enforcement investigations. The Enforcement Plan directs prosecutors to “take all reasonable steps to minimize the length and collateral impact” of investigations. This indicates that prosecutors will be encouraged to move quickly to reach charging decisions and resolve investigations.
Additionally, the Enforcement Plan directs the department to use more sparingly independent compliance monitors to implement compliance programs or prevent recurrence of the underlying misconduct. Under the DOJ’s new policy, “monitorships must be narrowly tailored to achieve the necessary goals while minimizing expense, burden, and interference with the business.” Pursuant to a new monitor selection memorandum, which was issued the same day as the Enforcement Plan, when considering a monitorship, the DOJ must consider the expense, burden, and interference with the business. The memorandum also includes policy changes that will result in the DOJ providing increased oversight of the monitor to ensure it is appropriately scoped.
Conclusion
The Enforcement Plan and related policy revisions signal a shift in focus in the area of white collar prosecutions. While the DOJ will remain active in the white collar space, it will work to streamline its investigations, increase the incentives and benefits to companies that self-disclose and cooperate with investigators, and decrease the reliance on monitors and the severity of criminal punishments.
Additionally, the DOJ is clearly motivated to pursue investigations that closely align with the administration’s key policies and objectives, including trade and customs fraud, tariff evasion, and unlawful funding of TCOs, FTOs, and cartels. Our Government Investigations and White Collar Defense group will be carefully monitoring these shifts in enforcement priorities in the coming months.