40%Corporate recidivism rate within 3 years of DOJ fine
22Companies with 3+ major DOJ/SEC violations on record
$34BLargest single corporate fine (Goldman Sachs 1MDB, 2020)
0Senior executives imprisoned in 2008 financial crisis
When a big company breaks the law — polluting rivers, defrauding customers, rigging prices — the government usually just charges them money. But these fines are often tiny compared to what the company made from breaking the law. So companies just pay up and do it again. 40% of them literally commit another violation within 3 years. No one goes to prison. The company keeps existing. The fine is just a business expense.
Corporate recidivism data comes from tracking DOJ prosecution agreements and subsequent violations. Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) and Non-Prosecution Agreements (NPAs) allow companies to avoid conviction in exchange for fines and promised reforms. Research shows these don't deter repeat violations. Good Jobs First's "Corporate Rap Sheets" database tracks serial violators: Bank of America (9+ actions), Wells Fargo (8+), JPMorgan Chase (7+). The 2008 crisis prosecuted zero major bank executives — establishing that "too big to jail" is real DOJ policy.
Alexander & Cohen (1996) established DPA framework; accelerated post-Enron. Brandon Garrett "Too Big to Jail" (2014, Harvard UP): comprehensive DPA/NPA analysis shows pattern of repeat violations. Good Jobs First Violation Tracker: 430,000+ corporate violations since 2000, $737B in penalties. SEC enforcement: 2010-2022 average penalty $57M for cases involving $1B+ in harm. Individual liability: DOJ Yates Memo (2015) promised executive accountability; 2022 DOJ revisions strengthened. EU comparison: EU criminal competition law includes executive imprisonment; US relies on civil penalties. Structural problem: corporate monitor effectiveness low (Brandon Garrett, 2020 empirical study).
Good Jobs First Violation Tracker: violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org. Brandon Garrett "Too Big to Jail" (2014) Harvard UP. DOJ Corporate Crime Enforcement data: justice.gov/criminal-fraud. SEC Enforcement stats: sec.gov/litigation/annual-reports.shtml. Corporate Rap Sheets: corp-research.org. Yates Memo (2015): justice.gov/dag/file/769036/download. EU antitrust criminal enforcement: ec.europa.eu/competition. FinCEN SAR data for repeat financial crime: fincen.gov/reports/sar-stats.
The Serial Violator Hall of Shame
These aren't one-time mistakes. They're companies that have built "pay the fine and move on" into their business model.
Corporate Recidivism: Major Violation Count (2000–2024)
Companies with most DOJ/SEC/EPA/CFPB major actions — Good Jobs First Violation Tracker
Fine vs Profit: Do Penalties Actually Hurt?
For most corporations, fines are a fraction of profits from the violation
Corporate vs Individual Prosecution Rates
Companies get fined; executives almost never go to prison
Too Big to Jail — By Policy
In 2013, Attorney General Eric Holder explicitly stated that some banks were "too big to jail" — that prosecuting them could destabilize the financial system. This became DOJ policy. Zero executives from major financial institutions were imprisoned for the 2008 crisis. Compare this to the 1980s S&L crisis where 1,000+ executives were convicted. The difference? The banks are bigger now, the political connections deeper, and the Yates Memo notwithstanding, individual prosecution of executives remains a rarity rather than the rule.
Sources
Good Jobs First Violation Tracker (2024) · Brandon Garrett "Too Big to Jail" (Harvard UP, 2014) · DOJ Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policy · SEC Annual Enforcement Reports · Good Jobs First Corporate Rap Sheets Database