Abstract
In the United States, corporations and their executives increasingly are being prosecuted and punished for criminal activity. On November 1, 2010, recent amendments to the United States Sentencing Guidelines went into effect that impact the severity of punishment in white-collar cases involving corporations and their executives. These amendments will increase or reduce the severity of a corporation's recommended sentence depending upon, among other things, the strength and effectiveness of its compliance program. The stronger and more effective the program, the less severe the recommended sentence will be. Conversely, a weak compliance program – or the lack of one – will result in a harsher recommended sentence. With the start of a new year, corporations should create or strengthen existing compliance programs now, so as to help reduce the severity of the recommended punishment under the Sentencing Guidelines, and more importantly, to increase the likelihood of avoiding a charge in the first place.