Corporate Prosecution Reform Act

Key Points

• Companies can no longer get deferred prosecution deals if their misconduct caused death or serious injury, or involved crimes like terrorism, money laundering, or human trafficking.
• The bill creates a new Office of Corporate Enforcement inside the Justice Department to monitor companies under settlement agreements and report violations up the chain.
• The Justice Department must post the full text, fines, and terms of corporate settlement deals online within 30 days of court approval, ending secrecy around these agreements.
• Victims of corporate crime gain the right to talk with government lawyers at least 15 days before a deal is offered and to testify before a judge decides whether to approve it.
• Companies or individuals with a past conviction or prior settlement for a similar corporate offense can no longer get a new deferred prosecution deal and must face standard prosecution.
• The bill bans the government from making secret non-prosecution deals where a company simply pays a fine to avoid prosecution entirely, except through the court-approved deferred prosecution process.