Enforcement policy across agencies offers reduced penalties for voluntary self-disclosure, cooperation and remediation. The credit is real and the conditions are demanding.

Voluntary self-disclosure generally requires disclosure before the government learns of the conduct through another route, promptly after discovery, and with all relevant facts then known. Disclosure after a whistleblower complaint has already reached the agency usually does not qualify.

Cooperation typically requires identifying the individuals involved and providing the facts about their conduct. Policies have shifted repeatedly on how complete that identification must be, but the direction has consistently been towards individual accountability as a condition of corporate credit.

Remediation means discipline where warranted, root cause analysis, and compliance program changes that are implemented and tested rather than announced.

What is not required. Waiver of attorney-client privilege as to legal advice. Agencies state that disclosing relevant facts, including facts learned in an internal investigation, is required, while privileged legal analysis is not. The line is easier to state than to hold, and every disclosure decision should be made with waiver consequences in civil litigation in view.

The counterweight. Self-reporting invites scrutiny of adjacent conduct, triggers civil exposure, and may carry collateral consequences in licensing and contracting.