Efficient Investigations Demand Smarter Data Analytics
Department of Justice’s May 2025 Guidance
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June 10, 2025
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The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Criminal Division’s May 12, 2025 memorandum by Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Criminal Division, introduces a sharper focus on “Efficient Investigations” in white-collar crime enforcement.1 At the core of this shift is a strong expectation that companies demonstrate control over their data environments and data analytics capabilities — exhibiting swift, thorough and technologically enabled investigative toolkits. Federal prosecutors now prioritize swift resolutions, a goal that companies can facilitate through effective in-house data analytics. By doing so, General Counsels (“GCs”), Chief Compliance Officers (“CCOs”) and outside counsel can demonstrate cooperation, fostering goodwill with regulators throughout the investigative process.
Organizations that fall short in leveraging data may appear unprepared or even unwilling to detect and respond to misconduct. The DOJ now expects organizations to actively employ data analytics to identify, investigate and even anticipate white-collar crime compliance risks.2 Companies that cannot demonstrate data-informed decision-making frameworks may face increased enforcement scrutiny. To mitigate risk, corporate executives should leverage advanced analytics when conducting internal investigations and considering potential self-disclosures.
Timely and Intelligent Access to Analytical Insights
The DOJ evaluates whether compliance and legal teams have timely and effective access to the data needed to investigate potential misconduct, such as financial transactions, communications, vendor contracts and audit logs.3 Companies should eliminate data silos and empower compliance personnel with access to centralized systems. Inconsistent or delayed access or inconsistencies in data access will raise red flags for prosecutors, potentially undermining claims of effective governance. Ability to produce information in a timely fashion to regulators is paramount, especially with the DOJ focus on a Company’s “willingness to cooperate.”4
Prosecutors will evaluate not only a company’s ability to access data, but also its capacity to interpret and apply it effectively. Merely storing financial transactions, vendor records, or communications is no longer sufficient—companies must structure data in ways that enable rapid filtering, anomaly detection and trend analysis. Technology that can quickly synthesize large datasets into actionable insights is now an essential tool for conducting credible and efficient internal investigations.
Auditability and Analytical Traceability
A key component of efficient investigations is the ability to trace data activity—specifically, who accessed what, when and for what purpose. The DOJ places increasing emphasis on audit trails and logging as indicators of sound data hygiene and accountability.5 Organizations should ensure their systems generate comprehensive, tamper-proof logs that support historical reconstruction of events. Insufficient audit capabilities can compromise internal investigations and diminish credibility with regulators.
As companies increase their use of algorithms and automated detection tools, the DOJ favorably views transparent and traceable analytics.6 Compliance teams must be prepared to explain how data-driven decisions were made, which models were used and what assumptions were applied. This includes maintaining detailed audit logs of data inputs, queries run and alerts generated. Inadequate documentation of analytics can undermine the credibility of internal findings and raise concerns about fairness and accuracy of investigative outcomes.
Cross-Functional Data Integration and Analysis
The updated guidance highlights the importance of system integration, allowing cross-functional insight and faster case resolution. Enterprises should move toward platforms that aggregate risk signals and unlock data-driven decisions in real time, in accordance with the mandate that “resources are marshaled efficiently […] and investigations do not linger and are swiftly concluded.”7
Compliance risks rarely exist in silos. Effective analytics must integrate data from across departments--procurement, HR, finance, legal and operations—to deliver a complete risk picture. Centralized and integrated dashboards and shared data environments allow teams to correlate behaviors across functions, significantly improving the speed and quality of investigations.
Proactive and Reactive Use of Analytics and Monitoring Tools
As an echo to the September 2024 DOJ guidelines, which focused on the importance of using AI to mitigate emerging risk in corporate compliance programs, this May 2025 guidance further encourages proactive risk detection.8 In a recent FTI Consulting article, we highlighted the “government’s shift away from purely qualitative measurements of compliance or a “paper program” to one supported by qualitative evidence of effectiveness.”9 Companies should deploy predictive analytics and real-time monitoring systems that flag unusual vendor activity, off-cycle payments or communication anomalies. This proactive posture shows a mature compliance culture capable of preventing, not just reacting to, misconduct.
The DOJ expects companies to act swiftly after detecting potential misconduct. Leveraging advanced data analytics can accelerate fact gathering, which can assist with a decision on self-disclosure and possibly offer companies additional benefits such as shorter terms.10 Organizations should deploy analytics both in a proactive and reactive manner to detect anomalies—such as suspicious vendor payments or unusual expense patterns. The use of AI and machine learning enables the compliance team to effectively monitor the organization and is viewed positively by the DOJ as a mitigating factor.
Conclusion
Efficient investigations now require more than access — they require insight. Companies must invest in analytics capabilities that are proactive as well as reactive, integrated and defensible, or risk being left behind in the DOJ’s new era of enforcement. To that effect, the May 2025 DOJ guidance redefines compliance expectations around data. White-collar crime investigations depend on systems that are accessible, auditable, integrated and intelligent. Companies must now treat data management not as a back-office attribute, but as a front-line defense against legal and regulatory risk. Data analytics should be viewed as an integral part of a mature compliance function.
To address these challenges, FTI Consulting has developed a comprehensive approach to investigations, leveraging forensic accounting, data analytics, business intelligence and advanced AI tools to help clients identify, investigate and mitigate compliance-related risks across industries and geographies.
Footnotes
1: Matthew Galeotti, “Focus, Fairness, and Efficiency in the Fight Against White-Collar Crime” (May 12, 2025), Department of Justice Memorandum, Section III Efficiency – Streamlining Corporate Investigations, on page 7.
2: U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” (September 2024), page 13.
3: Id.
4: Matthew Galeotti, “Focus, Fairness, and Efficiency in the Fight Against White-Collar Crime” (May 12, 2025), Department of Justice Memorandum, Section II Fairness – Prosecuting Corporations and Individuals on pages 5-6, “Prosecutors in the Criminal Division must consider additional factors when determining whether to charge corporations, including whether the company reported the conduct to the Department, its willingness to cooperate with the government, and its actions to remediate the misconduct.”
5: U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” (September 2024), page 13.
6: Id.
7: Matthew Galeotti; “Focus, Fairness, and Efficiency in the Fight Against White-Collar Crime” (May 12, 2025), Department of Justice OJ Memorandum; Refer to the Section III Efficiency – Streamlining Corporate Investigations, on page 7 of the– “While particular facts and circumstances may require an investigation that spans multiple years, prosecutors must take all reasonable steps to minimize the length and collateral impact of their investigations, and to ensure that bad actors are brought to justice swiftly and resources are marshaled efficiently.”
8: U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” (September 2024), pages 3-4.
9: Nicole Wells, Adam Berry, Andrea Levine, “Updated DOJ Guidance Importance of AI & Data Analytics”, (February 17, 2025).
10: Matthew Galeotti, “Focus, Fairness, and Efficiency in the Fight Against White-Collar Crime” (May 12, 2025); Section II Fairness – Prosecuting Corporations and Individuals, on page 6 “I have directed the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section to revise the CEP and clarify that additional benefits are available to companies that self-disclose and cooperate, including potential shorter terms”.
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June 10, 2025
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