Chihuahua, Chih., August 20th, 2018.
Dear Clients and Friends,
The enactment of the National Code of Criminal Procedures (CNPP) has debunked several myths, such as the principle societas delinquere non potest (the corporate-legal entity cannot commit a crime). The CNPP establishes that the legal entities (corporations) could result criminally liable for crimes committed on their behalf, benefit or through means provided by them, if it is proved that there was a disregard for the due control on the organization. This, regardless of the criminal liability of the Company´s representatives or officers (section 421 CNPP).
As a result, a Company could be held liable for crimes such as: influence peddling, fraud, concealments, transactions with illegally sourced funds, environmental crimes, intellectual property crimes, tax evasion, among others (section 11 Bis Federal Criminal Code).
The precautionary measures and/or sanctions for Companies that are held liable could go from a lien on their assets, account immobilization, suspension of activities, fines, forfeitures, and even the dissolution of the Company (section 422 CNPP).
The risk of a Company falling into a criminal liability case is as broad as the commercial activities in can perform. As a result, the due control is enacted through compliance in order to prevent these types of crimes and the possible liability of the Company in the execution of such crimes.
The due control (compliance) refers to a series of measures, applied by the Company, as a self-regulation, as well as to its employees. Through different instruments, such as: an adequate Power of Attorneys policy (POA Policy), the internal work policy, an ethics and conduct codes, anti-corruption policies, training programs, memorandums with performance criteria, internal complaints mechanisms, operation manuals, and better corporate compliance practices, among others.
We have broad experience on the matter with the purpose to either make a diagnosis or answering any doubts about the Companies’ criminal liability, in such a way that we can let you know about the possible risks that your Company may present; enforcing programs, mechanisms and instruments of due control that allow you to shield your business, in order to avoid falling into in penalties that may cause important damages to your Company´s assets.
