CHILE Law and Practice Contributed by: Jorge Bofill and César Ramos, Bofill Escobar Silva Abogados
8.3 Compliance Monitorships Chilean legislation does not contemplate com - pliance monitors as part of a corporate resolu - tion, but Law No 20,393 considers the penalty of supervision of the legal entity, in which the criminal court appoints a supervisor responsi - ble for ensuring that the legal entity effectively develops, implements or improves an adequate crime-prevention system and controls said prep - aration, implementation or improvement for a minimum period of six months and a maximum of two years. Therefore, the institution exists, but as a penalty imposed by the court, not by the enforcement bodies. Nevertheless, the Public Prosecutor’s Office could propose such measure to the legal entity as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, but it would need the acceptance of the corporation and the approval of a guarantee judge ( Juez de Garantía ).
ments, but nobody can ascertain what guide - lines the public prosecutor will follow on the mat - ter. Therefore, the level of sanctions imposed in the past is not likely to be representative of the future.
8. Compliance Expectations 8.1 Compliance Obligations
Chilean legislation does not include a specific obligation to maintain compliance programmes. Nonetheless, Law No 20,393 acknowledges the importance of compliance programmes, and a suitable and effectively implemented crime- prevention model may be an exculpatory factor for a legal entity, as mentioned in 3.3 Corporate Liability . 8.2 Compliance Guidelines and Best Practices As explained in 3.3 Corporate Liability , Article 4° of Law No 20,393 specifies the minimum requirement of a compliance programme to have an exemption effect. However, recent changes in the legislation have only been fully in force since September 2024, and therefore, the prosecution bodies still do not have further guidelines on this matter. Nevertheless, the best practices for compliance programmes in Chile are similar to the best prac - tices applied in the US and EU, such as, identi - fying risks in the specific activities that the cor - poration carries out; establishing cross-checks between different areas of the company and anonymous reporting channels, investigations and sanction procedures; periodic revisions made by third parties; and continuous improve - ments to the programme.
9. Assessment 9.1 Assessment of the Applicable Enforced Legislation
Many of the modifications enacted by Law No 21,121 were adopted with the purpose of fulfill - ing international commitments in the matter of corruption, and as a reaction to certain cases of corruption that have occurred in recent times in Chile. The current legislation deals severely with cor - ruption and bribery and is expected to be more effective in the future, but it is still too early to determine its efficacy.
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