INTRODUCTION Contributed by: Deepak Vij, ABV Solicitors
by the prosecutor is destroyed and cannot be used against the defendant. Time will tell whether legisla - tive reforms provide for DPAs in Greece in the future. Similarly, Switzerland does not have deferred pros - ecution agreements or non-prosecution agreements under its domestic law. Although the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland proposed introduc - ing a DPA-like mechanism during the 2022 revision of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Federal Council rejected the proposal. At present there is no statutory framework allowing prosecutors to enter into negoti - ated settlement agreements with companies or indi - viduals in exchange for compliance undertakings or monitorship arrangements. Self-reporting and whistle-blowers Corporations are incentivised to enter into DPAs to avoid criminal prosecution. To benefit from such agreements, they must have effective self-reporting and whistle-blowing procedures in place. Addition - ally, conducting a robust internal investigation is of paramount importance. UK The SFO’s revised Corporate Cooperation Guidance published in April 2025 gave a clear assurance that DPA negotiations will follow prompt self-reporting “unless exceptional circumstances apply”. Whistle- blowing in the UK is a procedure for the reporting of workplace wrongdoing such as fraud or other legal breaches which are in the public interest. Whistle-blowers are protected from dismissal or detri - ment under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 if they make a “qualifying disclosure” to their employer, a regulator, or other prescribed bodies. Many commentators have advocated for the introduc - tion of incentive arrangements for whistle-blowers in the UK. The UK Government has now acknowledged this and in its Anti-Corruption Strategy, published in December 2025, there is a commitment to explor - ing the viability of these arrangements. HMRC have recently explored a Strengthened Reward Scheme which may provide a template for how such a scheme could operate in the UK.
Any financial incentive is likely to increase the num - ber of whistle-blowers coming forward. This scheme will no doubt also lead to more disclosures of corpo - rate wrongdoing, but this may also come with its own issues. USA The USA has used this whistle-blowing provision for a while and have in place a very attractive financial incentive for whistle-blowers to come forward. In 2024, DOJ’s Criminal Division introduced a Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program (the “Whistle - blower Program”) designed to incentivise tips from whistle-blowers to uncover corporate crime. Under the programme, any whistle-blower that provides the Criminal Division with original and truthful information about corporate misconduct that results in a success - ful forfeiture of assets may be eligible for an award. Thus, the bargain is simple – if the whistle-blower reports corporate misconduct, and the tip results in a prosecution and forfeiture, then the whistle-blower may receive a financial award. The programme permits the whistle-blower to submit his or her tip anonymously through a lawyer. How - ever, even if a whistle-blower reports conduct with - out a lawyer – and is thus required to disclose his or her identity to DOJ – there are assurances that DOJ will protect the confidentiality of the whistle-blower except as required by law or some other compelling need or interest. In May 2025, DOJ expanded the Whistleblower Pro - gram, which was first created in 2024, to broaden the array of offences eligible for awards. While the original pilot programme covered financial institution crimes, foreign bribery, domestic bribery and kickbacks, and healthcare offences, the expanded programme now encompasses procurement and federal programme fraud, trade and customs fraud, federal immigration violations, and support for foreign terrorist organisa - tions, cartels, and transnational criminal organisations. Unsurprisingly, these additional offences eligible for an award under the programme directly reflect the pri - orities of the current administration. This expansion appears to have yielded fruitful results. In September 2025, DOJ reported that since the expansion, it had
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