Mark Rochon's remarks during the GIR Live program in New York City on September 22, 2015, were quoted in Global Investigations Review. Rochon said the "plain language" of the Yates memo is similar to the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) previous guidance on prosecuting individuals. The memo, which says that companies must hand over all relevant information about individual misconduct to qualify for any cooperation credit, is not radically new, however wide-scale press coverage means prosecutors may feel the need to go after individuals more aggressively, Rochon said. "It is very hard to say: 'There is nothing going on here. There is nothing new here,' when you also arrange for first-tier publications like the [New York] Times and the [Wall Street] Journal to release this as new policy," he said. "I am concerned that some people may well get indicted who ought not be indicted."

Mr. Rochon noted that remarks by Leslie Caldwell, head of the DOJ's Criminal Division, were "oil on troubled water" regarding the concerns that many had expressed, but Rochon said some prosecutors may still stray toward an overly aggressive interpretation. "There are a lot of people who have come into the Department of Justice over the years and they are being given instructions here that are going to be interpreted by some as better to indict [individuals] than decline," he said.