Sometimes after an internal investigation is completed, a company may have to decide whether to provide information to the government or governmental agency of their internal wrongdoing. Making this decision is very difficult and should be made with the advice of counsel. The benefits of self-disclosure or self-reporting include showing the government that your own internal compliance and controls have found a problem and that the problem has now been fixed. The government or governmental agency may accept your report and not initiate a full-blown investigation. The downside of self-reporting is that there is no way to prevent the government from conducting their own criminal or civil investigation. In these cases, if the government believes the self-report was not enough, the potential consequences could be worse. Self-disclosing or reporting may also provide waivers of the attorney client privilege. The decision to self-disclose often comes down to the nature of the allegation, whether there is a pending investigation, and whether the problem can readily be fixed or remedied.
