Kenneth Polite Jr. thinks highly of chief compliance officers. The assistant attorney general and head of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division, a former CCO himself, has counted his time in the role as the most challenging among the high-level titles on his résumé.
So, if it seems the DOJ has compliance officers in its crosshairs with some of its controversial policy changes this year, that’s because it does. Not as a way to punish these individuals but to elevate their standing within their organization. New priorities, including CCO certifications at the end of corporate resolutions and an overhaul to how the agency aims to fight corporate crime, are, in the DOJ’s view, empowering to the profession, which must rise to the occasion.
