DOJ Fraud Division Issues Corporate Enforcement Directive 26-12
On October 1, 2026, DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division issued a new directive on corporate enforcement in fraud cases, signaling how the division intends to prioritize and structure corporate fraud prosecutions and resolutions.
On October 1, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald issued Directive 26-12, titled "Corporate Enforcement in the Fight Against Fraud," for the Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division. Reporting comes from a single law-firm alert, and the specific provisions of the memorandum — its charging, declination, cooperation, or resolution criteria — are not set out in the available material; the directive text should be read in full before any conclusions are drawn about its content or practical effect.
Even with details unconfirmed, a division-wide enforcement directive from the National Fraud Enforcement Division touches the calculus for every major-firm corporate client: how internal investigations are scoped, what preservation and cooperation posture is expected, and when resolution is realistically available. A stated corporate-enforcement framework also typically signals a shift in the division's internal triage and charging decisions, which can matter for parallel regulatory and private exposure.
Practical next steps for counsel: obtain and read the directive, map its expectations against existing investigation and disclosure protocols, and revisit escalation and resolution strategy for matters touching the division's subject-matter reach. Watch for follow-on DOJ or agency guidance and for early applications in pending corporate fraud matters.