Welcome to Compliance Hot Spots, our weekly snapshot on white-collar, regulatory and compliance news and trends. We’re back after a one-week pause during an active period in the white-collar world. Today, new DOJ policies have some defense lawyers worried that the government has upset the balance of carrots and sticks in corporate enforcement. Plus, it’s been a busy couple of weeks for the SEC enforcement division ahead of the end of the fiscal year. We have the latest on the law firms involved in major resolutions. Please get in touch with tips and feedback. Contact me at [email protected] and @AGoudsward on Twitter.

Of ‘Carrots and Sticks’

In a major speech earlier this month, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco sought to reinforce the careful balance of incentives and deterrents, often called “carrots and sticks” by white-collar practitioners, that the U.S. Justice Department uses to compel major companies to cooperate with federal investigations.