Several recent cases have prompted me to consider which enterprises involved are suitable for compliance construction.

The first is the case of copyright infringement I handled. During the handling process, it was proposed to conduct compliance construction for the enterprises involved in the case and strive for the non prosecution of the procuratorate. "But I immediately vetoed it because the person in charge and the main backbone of the enterprise involved were arrested, and the alleged criminal fact was that they violated the computer software of other companies, which is the core business of the company.". If the facts of the crime are determined, what is the need for the company to exist?

The second is that a friend of mine was transferred for review and prosecution for the crime of collusion in bidding somewhere in Hainan. His local defense lawyer advised him to conduct compliance construction, and he could strive for the procuratorate not to prosecute. A friend is a milk distributor of a certain brand that specializes in nutritious meals for students. The company has only seven or eight people, all of whom are engaged in business, with an annual profit of several hundred thousand. I told him that your profit for one year is not enough for compliance expenses. What should I do? Do you need a complete compliance plan for the management of seven or eight individuals? Moreover, it is not that if you do not comply, the compliance procuratorate will not sue, nor is it that if you do not comply, you will definitely sue.

The third case is a state-owned enterprise in the field of construction research, in which employees of an independent operating studio are suspected of colluding in bidding. The police came to the company and said that the company also had criminal responsibility, but the company was unaware of the matter. When I was demonstrating legal responsibility to the company, I asked them if they had carried out criminal compliance work on a regular basis. They presented me with a large number of company rules and regulations, training manuals, job responsibility statements, and previous meetings and lectures on preventing criminal risks.

Obviously, none of the above three cases is suitable for compliance construction. What kind of enterprise is suitable for?

The Guiding Opinions on Establishing a Third Party Supervision and Evaluation Mechanism for the Compliance of Enterprises Involved in Cases (for Trial Implementation) provide for several situations that do not apply to enterprise compliance: "(1) individuals establish companies or enterprises for the purpose of conducting illegal and criminal activities; (2) companies or enterprises whose main activity is to commit crimes after their establishment; (3) companies or enterprise personnel embezzle the name of the unit to commit crimes; and (4) Suspected of committing crimes endangering national security or terrorist activities; （5） "Other inappropriate circumstances." "The Measures for Compliance Construction, Evaluation, and Review of Enterprises Involved in Cases (Trial)" also does not explicitly specify the scope of enterprises involved in compliance construction, but refers to the compliance construction of "small and micro enterprises".

According to the pilot cases with the highest level of inspection, most of the compliance enterprises involved are small and micro enterprises, while in contrast, most of the compliance enterprises abroad are large enterprises.
Large enterprises in China, especially state-owned enterprises, have started compliance construction many years ago. Today, there is a mature and complete compliance management system. The compliance construction of Chinese enterprises started from the financial industry. At the beginning of the 21st century, the requirements of administrative supervision departments and the healthy development of the financial industry jointly promoted the compliance construction of the industry, and later other fields were gradually developed. That is to say, long before the legal profession vigorously engaged in criminal compliance, some large enterprises already had a complete compliance management system. Therefore, even if there are criminal cases in these enterprises, it is impossible to conduct compliance construction again.

Small and micro enterprises without a sound management system are often areas with a high incidence of criminal crimes. Is it suitable for compliance construction? First, let's clarify what a small and micro enterprise is. According to the "Regulations on the Classification Standards for Small and Medium Enterprises" jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Bureau of Statistics, the Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance on June 18, 2011, the standards for small and micro enterprises in different industries are different. For example, we are familiar with the retail industry, with 10 to 50 employees and operating income of 1 million to 5 million yuan, which is a small enterprise; Microenterprises with less than 10 employees or operating income of less than 1 million yuan are micro enterprises. Another example is the catering industry and the accommodation industry, where there are 10 to 100 employees and the operating income is between 1 million yuan and 20 million yuan, which are small enterprises; Microenterprises with less than 10 employees or operating income of less than 1 million yuan are micro enterprises. Other industries will not be listed one by one. Although there are certain differences in the standards of various industries, small and micro enterprises are basically economic organizations with small scale, fewer personnel, and less income generation, similar to family workshops and individual businesses. The author believes that compliance construction for small and micro enterprises is unnecessary, unfounded, and ineffective. The main reasons why small and micro enterprises are not suitable for compliance construction are as follows:

Small and micro enterprises lack compliance awareness

Small and micro enterprises have a poor ability to resist risks in market competition and belong to vulnerable groups. The primary issue to be addressed is survival. Principals and employees generally lack compliance awareness. Consciousness guides behavior. When small and micro enterprises do not have compliance awareness, they are not proactive about compliance at all, and may not understand or even resist it. Even if he agreed to do so, he would start from scratch like teaching a child to read with his hands. The cost of communication was quite high, and he could not seriously abide by the rules and regulations. The compliance system became a fixture.

Financial resources are not allowed

Compliance construction requires economic costs. Small and micro enterprises have no personnel to do it themselves, and can only hire professionals from outside. In addition, third-party supervision and evaluation personnel should also be hired. The Measures for Compliance Construction, Evaluation, and Review of Enterprises Involved in Cases (Trial Implementation) stipulates that small and micro enterprises may also submit compliance plans and rectification reports directly to the procuratorate without initiating a third-party mechanism, but this still requires the assistance of professional personnel. For some small and micro enterprises with annual revenue of millions or hundreds of thousands, this cost far exceeds their affordability. Therefore, for the vast majority of small and micro enterprises, compliance is still a luxury.

"Small and micro enterprises do not have the necessary organizational structures, management mechanisms, and personnel for compliance, and the actual effect of compliance cannot be achieved."

Due to a small number of employees and a single business form, small and micro enterprises have not established an organizational structure. Some even basic financial personnel, such as accountants, are hired externally, and there are no legal personnel. There is also no clear division of labor and responsibilities among personnel, but rather intersection and overlap, which can be replaced and assumed by each other. For example, in a small supermarket, everyone can act as an inspector, security officer, tally clerk, cashier, and so on. The business process is relatively simple, without complex links, and there is no mutual supervision and restriction. Without a governance structure, there can be no improvement. Without internal rules and regulations, there can be no improvement. It is even more impossible to form an effective compliance management system. The Measures for Compliance Construction, Evaluation, and Review of Enterprises Involved in Cases (for Trial Implementation) require that enterprises involved in cases should establish compliance management institutions or management personnel that are appropriate to the type, scale, business scope, industry characteristics, etc. of the enterprise, which small and micro enterprises cannot meet.

4. Waste of judicial resources

Given the relatively tight judicial resources in China, it is not appropriate to conduct compliance construction for small and micro enterprises. To carry out compliance construction for enterprises involved in the case, the procuratorate needs to complete a series of work, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Small and micro enterprises have strong staff mobility, lack stable labor relations and job leaders, and it is difficult to implement rules and regulations. If the enterprise involved only uses the compliance plan as a bargaining chip in exchange for not prosecuting, in fact, it does not attach importance to the compliance plan, nor does it seriously implement the compliance plan. Any further improvement of the compliance management system is also a dead letter, which would be a great waste of judicial resources.

"Small and micro enterprises are not suitable for compliance construction, but they are the weakest link in the construction of the rule of law, so let it go.". Of course not! Small and micro enterprises are not suitable for compliance construction, but need legal publicity and education. Small and micro enterprises cannot submit compliance plans and rectification reports, but they need to be brought to their doorstep by the procuratorate and other departments. Small and micro enterprises need the simplest and direct legal knowledge and right and wrong concepts, rather than a complete compliance management system. When small and micro enterprises grow and develop, with a considerable number of personnel and a clear division of functions within the management organization, it is truly necessary to establish a comprehensive compliance plan and establish a complete compliance management system.

Therefore, the author's conclusion about which enterprises involved in the case are suitable for compliance construction is:

Large and medium-sized enterprises that have completed compliance plans need not do so. Even a perfect compliance plan cannot deter all incidental crimes.

In principle, small and micro enterprises are not suitable for operation. A small number of small enterprises with a certain business scale, prominent business advantages, and great development potential can be operated after fully evaluating their necessity. Moreover, the compliance plan should be simplified according to actual needs, and there should be no formal mechanical requirements.

Compliance construction should mainly be aimed at medium-sized enterprises that do not have a complete compliance management system. After years of development, medium-sized enterprises often have accumulated and advantages in terms of business scale, management system, and personnel stability. Medium sized enterprises have an organizational structure suitable for production and operation, rules and regulations to ensure the normal operation of the enterprise, and a certain number of high-quality professional management personnel. These are essential foundations for conducting compliance construction. In the development process of medium-sized enterprises from small to large, scientific management is particularly important, and enterprises themselves also have an urgent need for compliance construction. To promote the healthy and stable development of these enterprises through compliance construction is in line with the original intention of the compliance non prosecution system for the enterprises involved.