Editor's note.

• Author: Edwards-Ford, Meghan

Welcome to the Twenty-Third Edition of the Annual Survey of White Collar Crime. Our goal every year is to provide readers with current and relevant information regarding federal white collar criminal offenses. We are proud to present two exciting features this year. First, this issue includes an essay on current trends in deferred prosecution agreements. Second, we have added an article on election law violations in anticipation of the 2008 elections.

Peter Spivack, partner at Hogan & Hartson LLP in Washington, DC, and Sujit Raman, associate at Hogan & Hartson, have authored an essay entitled Regulating the 'New Regulators': Current Trends in Deferred Prosecution Agreements. Their piece explores the Department of Justice's increased use of pretrial diversion in corporate criminal cases, and takes an in-depth look at the thirty-seven publicly-announced agreements executed in 2007. The article highlights the fundamental shift that has taken place in the role and function of criminal law in the corporate context over the past few years, and focuses on the role of individual United States Attorneys Offices (USAOs) in reforming corporate cultures through deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements. Congress recently has taken notice of this trend and, as the Annual Survey goes to print, is considering legislation directing the Department of Justice to issue uniform national guidance...