Justice Softens Investigation Guidelines
New rules may make it harder for U.S. attorneys to demand confidential data in fraud probes, or to punish companies if they refuse to comply
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The Justice Dept. has promised to ease up on its tactics for investigating corporate fraud, raising the bar for prosecutors who want to obtain privileged information from companies. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty announced the policy change Dec. 12 at a New York meeting of corporate and defense lawyers, laying out details in a 19-page memorandum to U.S. attorneys.
The McNulty Memorandum updates the 2003 Thompson Memorandum, a series of corporate prosecution guidelines issued by then-Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson.