Chapter 2: Foundational Materials and Program Infrastructure

Beyond the Sentencing Guidelines: Governing Directives, Guidelines, and Standards from the United States

While the Federal Sentencing Guidelines’ definition of an effective compliance and ethics program continues to be the most influential set of guidelines regarding how to structure a program, a number of additional, important directives have been promulgated by the US government; multinational organizations, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations; and other governments. Many of these standards build on the guidelines’ definition of an effective program, although in some cases, they also add considerable additional detail to the guidelines’ definition.

What follows is a discussion of some of the more important standards that have been promulgated by the US government and other bodies, including those issued by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and those contained in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and Nasdaq corporate governance rules. The above is just a sampling of the guidance promulgated by various authorities.

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