II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1010 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish criminal liability for 

negligent executive officers of major corporations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 3, 2019 

Ms. WARREN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish criminal 

liability for negligent executive officers of major corporations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Corporate Executive 

5 Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL LIABILITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title 18, United States 

8 Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 23 the fol9 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 24—CORPORATIONS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘451. Negligence of executive officers. 

2 ‘‘§ 451. Negligence of executive officers 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered corporation’ means a 

5 corporation that generates more than 

6 $1,000,000,000 in revenue on an annual basis; and 

7 ‘‘(2) the term ‘executive officer’ includes any in8 dividual who— 

9 ‘‘(A) is described in section 240.3b–7 of 

10 title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

11 successor regulation thereto; and 

12 ‘‘(B) by reason of the position of the indi13 vidual in the corporation, has the responsibility 

14 and authority to take necessary measures to 

15 prevent or remedy violations. 

16 ‘‘(b) CRIMINAL LIABILITY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for an 

18 executive officer of a covered corporation to neg19 ligently permit or fail to prevent a violation of law 

20 described in paragraph (2). 

21 ‘‘(2) VIOLATIONS DESCRIBED.—A violation of 

22 law described in this paragraph is— 

23 ‘‘(A) any criminal violation of Federal or 

24 State law for which the covered corporation was 


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1 convicted or entered into a deferred or non2 prosecution agreement; 

3 ‘‘(B) any civil violation of Federal or State 

4 law— 

5 ‘‘(i) for which the covered corporation 

6 was found liable or entered into a settle7 ment agreement with any State or Federal 

8 agency; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) that affects the health, safety, fi10 nances, or personal data of— 

11 ‘‘(I) not less than 1 percent of 

12 the population of the United States; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(II) not less than 1 percent of 

15 the population of a State; or 

16 ‘‘(C) any criminal or civil violation of Fed17 eral or State law, for which the covered cor18 poration was convicted or found liable, as the 

19 case may be, that was committed while the cov20 ered corporation was operating under a civil or 

21 criminal judgment of any court, a deferred 

22 prosecution or non-prosecution agreement, or 

23 settlement with any State or Federal agency re24 lating to a different criminal or civil violation. 


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1 ‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Any executive officer who violates 

2 subsection (b) shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) for a first offense, be fined in accordance 

4 with this title, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, 

5 or both; and 

6 ‘‘(2) for a second or subsequent offense, be 

7 fined in accordance with this title, imprisoned for 

8 not more than 3 years, or both.’’. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

10 The table of chapters in part I of title 18, United States 

11 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

12 chapter 23 the following: 

‘‘24. Corporations ................................................................................... 451’’. 

Æ 


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