DOJ Fraud Division's New Corporate Fraud Enforcement Directive
A new DOJ directive reportedly instructs prosecutors on corporate enforcement in fraud matters, reshaping how major-firm clients should read federal charging and cooperation posture.
On October 1, 2026, the DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division issued Directive 26-12, titled "Corporate Enforcement in the Fight Against Fraud," according to a DLA Piper client alert published on JD Supra. The report describes the document as instructing federal prosecutors how to approach corporate enforcement in fraud matters. Our review is limited to that single secondary summary; the directive's text, specific charging and declination criteria, and any carve-outs for cooperation credit have not been independently confirmed here, and readers should consult the primary document before relying on any operational assumption.
Why sophisticated counsel and in-house teams should care now: a division-level directive of this kind signals how charging decisions, voluntary-disclosure credit, and remediation expectations may be exercised across a wide range of fraud investigations touching corporate clients. For major-firm clients, the practical consequences run to internal-investigation readiness, document preservation, and the sequencing of self-reporting decisions against other regulators and plaintiffs.
Concrete next steps: obtain and read Directive 26-12 in full, map its factors against live or anticipated matters, and check for implementing guidance, U.S. Attorney messaging, or additional commentary and litigation challenges that will likely follow.