Warren’s legislation has little chance of passing the Senate and was quickly criticized by business groups and white collar defense attorneys as criminalizing normal corporate behavior.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and presidential hopeful, introduced legislation this week that aims to make it easier to jail the chief executives of big corporations who allow fraud or other forms of corporate wrongdoing to happen on their watch. By Renae Merle Renae Merle Reporter covering white-collar crime and Wall Street Email Bio Follow April 4 at 10:40 AM In recent months, Sen.
Warren’s legislation has little chance of Senate passage and was quickly criticized by business groups and white collar defense attorneys as criminalizing normal corporate behavior. “Criminal penalties are the most drastic penalties a government can impose, we need to be very careful about how we use that,” said Tom Quaadman, executive vice president of the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a large lobbying group.
Her proposal taps into lingering populist frustration with the lack of criminal prosecutions after the global financial crisis. Going after corporate executives has long been difficult, particularly at large companies, former prosecutors say. The investigations are lengthy and expensive and it can be difficult to prove that a CEO knew about specific corporate wrongdoing in a large organization, they say.
Criminalizing negligence would upend precedent, legal experts say. In most cases, defendants must know they are committing a crime to be found guilty, said Peter Baldwin, a former federal prosecutor and partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath. Being found negligent is a much lower standard and is traditionally pursued through civil courts, he said.
Warren’s legislation adopts parts of SIGTARP’s proposal, including requiring top executives of a company with at least $10 billion in revenue to certify every year that they have conducted “due diligence” to identify criminal or civil fraud. That extra step could make it easier for law enforcement to hold those executives criminally responsible for corporate wrongdoing even if they are not personally responsible or aware of the bad behavior, legal experts say.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Elizabeth Warren says CEOs should face jail for negligence in scandalsSenator Elizabeth Warren has been a vocal critic of scandal-ridden bank Wells Fargo. And her blistering attacks arguably contributed to the ousters of CEO John Stumpf and his successor, Tim Sloan.
Read more »
Sen. Warren wants to make it easier to lock up CEOs for company wrongdoingElizabeth Warren proposes bill to make it easier to jail executives for company abuses via YahooFinance
Read more »
Warren advocates jailing of CEOs for company wrongdoing | Democrats pushing bills for 2020 messagingSen. Elizabeth Warren is set to roll out a bill that would expand criminal liability to any exec who negligently oversees a giant company causing severe harm...
Read more »
Elizabeth Warren wants to make it easier to jail executives for company abusesWarren's bill, called the Corporate Executive Accountability Act, is in part a response to consumer abuses at companies such as Wells Fargo and Equifax.
Read more »
Elizabeth Warren Says She Believes Lucy Flores' Account Of Joe Biden's Unwanted KissElizabeth Warren says she believes Lucy Flores' account of Joe Biden's unwanted kiss
Read more »
Elizabeth Warren says Joe Biden needs to give an answer for allegation of inappropriate touchingDemocratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Saturday said former Vice President Joe Biden needs to provide an answer to allegations he inappropriately touched a Nevada politician at an event in 2014.
Read more »
Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Joe Biden should address inappropriate touching allegationBiden was accused of delivering unwanted kisses and touching of a woman from behind while he was vice president in 2014.
Read more »
Elizabeth Warren's finance director leaving campaignMichael Pratt, finance director for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, is leaving her presidential campaign
Read more »
Elizabeth Warren: 'No Foreign Country Should Be Able To Purchase Farmland In America'Elizabeth Warren: 'No foreign country should be able to purchase farmland in America'
Read more »