Justice Department Seeks to Spread the Pain of Corporate Fines to Executives at Fault
Wall Street JournalMar 02, 2023
Deputy US Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced Thursday that the US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) would unveil a new policy to reallocate the cost of corporate crime into the pockets of executives. This comes as part of a larger push by the Biden admin. to regulate illegal corporate actions.
Monaco said "to address the increasing intersection of corporate crime and national security," the DOJ's National Security Division will hire more than 25 new prosecutors to investigate "sanctions evasion, export control violations, and similar economic crimes."
This policy seems like a sensible step forward as national security and corporate crime increasingly become intertwined. Shareholders, who are rarely involved in wrongdoing, should not have to pay the price for the criminal activity undertaken by executives and supervisors. Between the DOJ's clawback policy and the Security and Exchange Commission's power to strip executives of bonuses, the Biden admin. is taking appropriate but forceful action to combat growing white-collar crime.
The real problem facing American society regarding white-collar crime is corporate greed, as companies continue to push for higher profits which in many cases harms both consumers and workers. Administration after administration, regulations have been cut as profits sore — but consumers and workers continue to face the brunt of a corporate world that has no checks and balances. Occasional fines, whether at the company or individual level, are no match for the exponential rise in profits and systemic corruption.