US and UK Introduce New Corporate Enforcement Policies on Voluntary Self-Disclosure

Both the United States and the United Kingdom have recently rolled out corporate enforcement policies reshaping the process for voluntary self-disclosure of criminal activity.

Lawyers at Bracewell LLP wrote about the new regulations for JD Supra. In March 2026, the Department of Justice issued a department-wide Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (CEP). Simultaneously, UK regulators are intensifying their own corporate liability frameworks, creating a complex, interconnected cross-border enforcement environment for multinational organizations.

In the US, the CEP standardizes prosecutors’ evaluations of corporate cooperation and voluntary self-disclosures (VSDs) in all criminal matters except for antitrust violations.

The new CEP represents a significant consolidation of enforcement guidance, explicitly superseding all component-specific and US Attorney’s Office-specific corporate enforcement policies, including the Southern District of New York’s recently announced VSD program for financial crimes.

Prior to the CEP, corporate enforcement guidance was fragmented across DOJ documents, individual memoranda, and office-specific programs. The new policy establishes six goals centered on early disclosure, individual accountability, victim compensation, and department-wide consistency.

To qualify for a declination, organizations must voluntarily self-disclose before the government becomes aware of misconduct, fully cooperate, and timely remediate.

The UK is making similar moves to incentivize self-reporting. The Serious Fraud Office issued new cooperation guidance in April 2025 and its “failure to prevent fraud” offense took effect in September 2025. The SFO process merely invites negotiations for a deferred prosecution agreement. It requires a penalty but does not guarantee a declination. It requires Crown Court approval at multiple stages.

For counsel advising multinational clients, the CEP’s preemption of SDNY’s program eliminates strategic forum selection as a tool in federal criminal matters. Lawyers must now evaluate disclosure decisions across multiple enforcement regimes simultaneously. Information-sharing between U.S. and UK authorities means a disclosure in one jurisdiction can rapidly trigger scrutiny in another.