NDCA Corporate Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy

The Northern District of California has implemented the United States Attorney’s Offices’ Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy to encourage companies to timely and voluntarily report potential criminal misconduct to the Office. The policy became effective February 22, 2023, and details the circumstances under which a company will be considered to have made a voluntary self-disclosure of misconduct to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and provides transparency and predictability to companies and attorneys who represent them with concrete benefits, including the possibility of a non-prosecution agreement, in cases where companies voluntarily self-disclose misconduct, fully cooperate, and timely and appropriately remediate the conduct. 

The goal of the policy is to incentivize companies to maintain effective compliance programs capable of identifying misconduct, to voluntarily disclose and remediate misconduct, and to cooperate fully with the government in corporate criminal investigations. 

Under the policy, a company is considered to have made a voluntary disclosure if it becomes aware of misconduct by employees or agents before that misconduct is publicly reported or otherwise known to the Department of Justice or any U.S. Attorney’s Office, and discloses all relevant facts known to the company about the misconduct to the NDCA U.S. Attorney’s Office in a timely fashion prior to an imminent threat of disclosure or government investigation. A company that voluntarily discloses as defined in the policy and fully meets the other requirements of the policy will receive significant benefits, including that the Office will not seek a guilty plea and may choose not to impose any criminal penalty.

The USAO Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy can be found here: USAO VSD Policy.

To start the process of making a voluntary self-disclosure contact the Office or send information to USACAN.VSD@usdoj.gov.