WASHINGTON — The Justice Department issued new guidance to its prosecutors Wednesday, aimed at encouraging more white-collar criminal and civil cases against corporate executives.

The new policies come amid persistent criticism that the Justice Department, even while negotiating multi-billion-dollar settlements with large banks, has not been aggressive enough in prosecuting individuals for financial misconduct — including after the mortgage crisis that devastated the U.S. economy.

The directives were outlined in a memo issued to Justice Department attorneys and to the FBI. Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates was expected to lay out the policy changes in a speech today at New York University’s law school.

Though it’s not clear whether the new policies will actually result in additional prosecutions, they are intended to address concerns that the department could be doing more to hold individual, high-level executives accountable for corporate fraud.

“Regardless of how challenging it may be to make a case against individuals in a corporate fraud case, it’s our responsibility at the Department of Justice to overcome these challenges and do everything we can to develop the evidence and bring these cases,” Yates will say in her speech, according to excerpts provided by the Justice Department. “The public expects and demands this accountability. Americans should never believe, even incorrectly, that one’s criminal activity will go unpunished simply because it was committed on behalf of a corporation.”