The Antitrust Division has long recognized the importance of keeping interested parties apprised of its efforts to enforce the criminal antitrust laws, including the Corporate and Individual Leniency Policies.
In November 2008, the Division issued “Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Antitrust Division’s Leniency Program and Model Leniency Letters.”
These 33 FAQs described the Division’s approach to several important topics, including how to apply for leniency; the criteria for leniency under both the corporate and individual policies; the issuance of conditional leniency letters and unconditional, final leniency letters; and confidentiality.
Today the Division is issuing an updated version of these Frequently Asked Questions. Many questions—and answers—remain unchanged from before.
Some answers have been clarified in light of the Division’s experience with the Leniency Program over the last ten years, including how the Leniency Program applies to non-antitrust crimes and current and former employees.
And the FAQs now feature a new question describing the Division’s approach to “Penalty Plus,” that is, situations where a company pleads guilty to an antitrust offense but fails to report additional antitrust crimes it was also involved in.
The revised Frequently Asked Questions are available here https://www.justice.gov/atr/page/file/926521/download and additional information about the Division’s Leniency Program is available here https://www.justice.gov/atr/leniency-program.