The original speech which is quoted is an outline for the use of 'deferred prosecution agreements' office which are effectively corporate plea bargains by the D

The original speech which is quoted is an outline for the use of 'deferred prosecution agreements' office which are effectively corporate plea bargains by the DOJ. The public policy problem is that if a corporation is indicted, legally they are presumed innocent but the market may not see it that way. Though the company might be eventually fully exonerated in court, they might have driven to bankruptcy by the market. By agreeing to a DPA, the company can treat it as a pseudo-regulatory matter. This, of course, has critics on both sides. On the one hand some critics feel this has allowed corporations to engage in ongoing criminal behavior without ever really paying the full price. On the other hand, people have criticized the Attorney General's office for using the threat of indictments on flimsy grounds as a means to create a backdoor regulatory regime with no legislative basis.