By Curtis M. Dombek and Michael W. Emmick
On April 29, 2010, after a period of public comment, the United States Sentencing Commission (“USSC”) issued proposed amendments to the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“USSG”). Absent Congressional action, those amendments will take effect on November 2, 2010. One of the proposed amendments relates to USSG § 8C2.5(f), which provides for a 3-point reduction in culpability score for companies that had an effective compliance and ethics program in place at the time of the offense of which they have been convicted. This amendment is part of the USSC’s announced effort to reevaluate corporate sentencing and provide for greater reward and encouragement for compliance programs, self-reporting, and remediation of discovered offenses.