The US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ or Division) recently released a revised Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations (Guidance). The Guidance reflects how the Division assesses the effectiveness and adequateness of a company’s antitrust compliance program. The Guidance offers insight into the Division’s evaluations of antitrust compliance programs at the charging and the sentencing stages of a criminal prosecution but is equally applicable to civil compliance. Adherence to the Guidance improves the chances a company can receive leniency and reduces the risk of prosecution should a violation occur.Continue Reading Antitrust Corporate Compliance Programs: Late 2024 Changes Mean Companies Should Revisit Their Programs Early in 2025
Surviving And Thriving In The Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Program: Maximizing Opportunities For NHOs, ANCs, and Tribes
Alex Major, Franklin Turner, Philip Lee, and Marcos Gonzalez co-authored the article “Surviving And Thriving In The Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Program: Maximizing Opportunities For NHOs, ANCs, And Tribes” for Briefing Papers. The article provides an overview of the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program, which provides socially and economically disadvantaged small business owners
DOJ’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force: Widening Its Stride on Its Third Anniversary
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF, or Strike Force) celebrates its third anniversary this month. Formed in November 2019 as an interagency partnership consisting of DOJ’s antitrust prosecutors, lawyers in 13 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and investigators from the FBI and federal Offices of Inspector General, the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the U.S. Postal Service, the Strike Force leverages joint resources to investigate public procurement crimes, employ complementary enforcement and prosecution strategies, eliminate anticompetitive collusion and fraud, and promote the integrity of government procurement. Employing education and state-level liaising, the Strike Force has been remarkably omnipresent and successful in that short time, despite numerous pandemic-related interruptions/delays in the courts. The pace of the Strike Force’s enforcement activity has quickened dramatically in 2022—and shows no signs of slowing in 2023.
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New DOJ Strike Force Targets Collusion in Federal Contract Awards
One of the bedrock principles of federal contracting is the demand for “full and open competition through the use of competitive procedures.” In order to foster competition and reduce costs, the Competition in Contracting Act was passed into law in 1984 in an effort to enhance competition in procurements and thereby reduce costs, eliminate waste and abuse, and protect taxpayer dollars. The effort to root out corruption and promote competition continues with the recent announcement by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the newly formed Procurement Collusion Strike Force (“Strike Force”), with additional details and training materials—and an imposing antitrust violation complaint form—available on its recently launched website.
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