When Can My Company Be Held Liable?
A commercial company can be held criminally liable in two scenarios:
- Crimes committed by legal representatives (de facto or de jure administrators, among others) or those who hold decision-making, organizational, and control powers, for the direct or indirect benefit of the company.
- Crimes committed by employees, for the benefit of the company, due to a lack of proper control over them—understood as a failure to fulfill the duties of supervision and oversight (compliance).
Thus, given who may commit crimes affecting the company, it is essential to remember that criminal liability requires a failure in corporate organization or a breach of the duty of control, which facilitated or encouraged the commission of the offense.
What Happens When a Company Is Convicted of a Crime?
If it is determined that the company must answer for the criminal actions of one of its administrators, managers, or employees, the penalties may include:
- Fines: This is the primary and mandatory penalty for legal entities, and it can be imposed: (i) in installments; (ii) in proportion to the damage caused.
- Prohibitive penalties: These are applied only in extreme cases. The most severe of these is dissolution.
How Can I Prevent This? – Criminal Compliance
- Illegal trafficking of human organs: Art. 156 bis
- Human trafficking: Art. 177 bis
- Crimes related to prostitution, sexual exploitation, and corruption of minors: Art. 189 bis
- Crimes against privacy, trespassing, and sexual exploitation of minors: Art. 197 quinquies
- Fraud and deception: Art. 251 bis
- Hindering enforcement of judgments: Art. 258 ter
- Insolvency crimes (asset disposition while insolvent, fraudulent creditor payments, accounting fraud): Art. 261 bis
- Cybercrimes and obstruction or disruption of computer systems: Art. 264 quáter
- Crimes related to intellectual and industrial property: Art. 288 in relation to Arts. 270–277
- Market and consumer crimes: Art. 288 in relation to Arts. 278 bis–286
- Business corruption: Art. 288 in relation to Arts. 286 bis–286 quáter
- Receiving and laundering of money: Art. 310 bis
- Illegal financing of political parties: Art. 318 bis.5
- Crimes against the Public Treasury and Social Security: Art. 310 bis
- Crimes against the rights of foreign citizens: Art. 318 bis.5
- Urban planning and land use offenses: Art. 319.4
- Crimes against natural resources and the environment: Art. 328
- Offenses related to nuclear energy and ionizing radiation: Art. 343
- Risk-related crimes involving explosives and other agents: Art. 348
- Public health offenses: Art. 366
- Drug trafficking: Art. 369 bis
- Counterfeiting currency: Art. 386.5
- Forgery of credit/debit cards and traveler’s checks: Art. 399 bis
- Bribery: Art. 427 bis
- Influence peddling: Art. 430
- Incitement to discrimination, hatred, or violence against groups: Art. 510 bis
- Terrorism-related crimes: Art. 576.5
