Overview
- Qualifying companies can receive a conditional declination within two to three weeks of a voluntary self‑report, with SDNY saying it has already issued at least one within a month of disclosure.
- Final declinations follow full cooperation, remediation, and victim restitution, and qualifying resolutions carry no criminal fines, forfeiture, or compliance monitors.
- The program targets fraud and market‑integrity offenses such as securities, commodities, and digital‑asset misconduct or false statements to auditors or regulators, and it excludes matters tied to terrorism, sanctions evasion, foreign corruption, trafficking, forced labor, and money laundering.
- Eligibility requires disclosure before the company learns of a government investigation or receives a subpoena, while awareness of whistleblower submissions or press coverage that does not reveal an investigation does not bar participation.
- Declinations bind only SDNY and do not protect individuals or shield companies from potential SEC or other regulators’ actions, and SDNY warns of a strong presumption against declination for companies that do not self‑report.