L’application de la loi à l’encontre des personnes morales comme vecteur de modification des comportements et pratiques et de redistribution de la responsabilité
It is essential to impose sanctions on individuals responsible for corporate misconduct to ensure deterrence and personal accountability, but also to maintain public confidence in our justice system and the financial services industry. However, legal, organizational and operational challenges make it particularly difficult for law enforcement agencies to find said individuals responsible for corporate misconduct. Scandals and financial crisis emphasized these difficulties and left the impression that only corporations were subject to sanctions and not their responsible directors, officers or employees. It is mainly because they have sometimes served as alternatives to the search for individual accountability that legal proceedings against corporations do not have a good press.  Enforcement actions against individuals and enforcement actions against corporations play different roles. They are complementary and not alternatives or substitutes. It is through the angle of change in behaviours and practices (rather than the only retrospective sanction) that the prism of law enforcement against corporations should be considered. In addition to deterring, such measures foster a change (voluntary or not) in behaviours and practices and could contribute to redistributing responsibility to the individuals actually responsible for corporate misconduct, notably through internal disciplinary mechanisms and sound compensation practices.
Sanctions Culture Enforcement Financial services Responsibility Accountability Deterrence Misconduct Behaviours Disciplinary mechanisms Compensation