In Rare Move, DOJ Credits “Forward-Looking” Compliance Program In Price-Fixing Case

For the second time ever, DOJ recommended a downward departure in sentencing – a fine, in this case – for a company on the grounds that it had implemented a compliance program after the infraction. Or, as Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder characterized it, for “forward looking” as opposed to “backward looking” compliance efforts. The company was Tokyo-based Kayaba Industry Co., Ltd., which had pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix the prices of shock absorbers. In its “Sentencing Memorandum and Motion for a Downward Departure,” the DOJ also outlined the characteristics of what it consider a compliance program that could merit credit, a list which is summarized in this client alert from Hogan Lovells. The DOJ in this case recommended a fine of $62 million, which is a 40 percent reduction from the low-end of what the guidelines called for.