In 2007, General Motors was alerted to their faulty, potentially fatal ignition-switches and chose to ignore it for a number of reasons, which included the legal ramifications which they would face, and the fact that it would likely cost them less to ignore the issue rather than fix it. Some fifty lives were lost to this.
In light of the Volkswagen scandal surrounding the manipulation of emissions test results, it would be prudent to avert potential damages from other internally known issues which may exist and be covered up at this time.
Offering an amnesty program to allow corporate boards to come forward with confessions of any nature with the promise of legal immunity or vastly reduced penalties provided everything in their power is done to amend what is wrong.