Federal prosecutors intend to increase the rewards offered to companies that help criminal investigations, including assurances they will not be prosecuted if they cooperate, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan said on Thursday.
Jay Clayton made the remarks at the Securities Enforcement Forum in New York, laying out a strategy that places greater emphasis on negotiating non-prosecution agreements - commonly called NPAs - with corporate actors that provide sustained cooperation. He framed the approach as a concrete benefit designed to encourage companies to assist prosecutors in identifying wrongdoers.
"Our approach is going to be: let’s get an NPA signed as quickly as possible that calls for continued cooperation," Clayton said at the conference.
The comments come as the Justice Department has been pulling back on corporate crime enforcement and shifting resources toward immigration and drug cases under the Trump administration. Clayton said the revised focus on cooperation and the use of NPAs would also serve shareholder interests.
Clayton, an appointee of President Donald Trump, previously led the Securities and Exchange Commission during the administration's first term. During his time at the SEC he placed emphasis on protections for retail investors, and he indicated those investors remain a central concern for him in his current role prosecuting white-collar crime.
He said prosecutors are watching for misconduct in areas he listed as priorities: small-cap stocks, private funds and prediction markets. When asked whether prosecutions are likely in event contracts - sometimes called event contracts or prediction-market style instruments - he responded, "Yes."
Clayton also leveled criticism at how the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been enforced. He noted that the Justice Department suspended enforcement of the law last year and later resumed it under a more limited framework. He argued the law, as applied historically, disadvantaged U.S. companies relative to foreign competitors and tended to punish corporate entities rather than the individuals who commit wrongdoing.
"I hate corruption of foreign officials," he said. "I hate the FCPA as applied."
Context and implications
Clayton presented the NPA-focused approach as a practical tool to extract cooperation from corporations and to realign prosecutorial resources. He emphasized shareholder protection as part of his enforcement priorities while signaling attention to specific market segments where he sees potential misconduct.
The remarks reflect a broader departmental shift in enforcement emphasis and a debate about how best to hold wrongdoers to account while preserving competitive standing for U.S. firms.