The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“DOC-BIS”) is adopting procedures to generate voluntary self-disclosures for violations of export controls laws. Companies have to weigh carefully the risks when...more
Foreign companies with U.S. operations are struggling to navigate the landscape of sanctions compliance. OFAC has expressed its concern that foreign companies need to deploy U.S. based expertise and resources to ensure...more
The Justice Department has repeated on several occasions that it intends to aggressively prosecute corporations for sanctions and export controls violations. The “New FCPA” is how the Justice Department characterizes its...more
We have seen an explosion in the attention paid to legal, compliance and operational risks companies face in supply chain operations. Depending on the industry, companies have to address a wide-swath of supply chain risks,...more
On July 9, 2024, District Judge David Hale in Kentucky denied motions to dismiss and motions to suppress filed by four defendants against a criminal case involving ITAR charges for illegal exports of sensitive,...more
7/18/2024
/ Arms Export Control Act ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Indictments ,
ITAR ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Motion To Suppress
In this new era of aggressive sanctions enforcement, companies have to understand the red lines that define where criminal and civil enforcement risk increase. In contrast to the history of FCPA enforcement, DOJ and OFAC...more
We all know what a “core” sanctions violation looks like. The heartland of such misconduct has been described on numerous occasions in OFAC enforcement actions and settlements. In this environment, however, companies have...more
In this new era of aggressive sanctions enforcement, companies have to understand the red lines that define where criminal and civil enforcement risk increase. In contrast to the history of FCPA enforcement, DOJ and OFAC...more
On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed into law a sweeping national security legislative package that included the 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act, which includes measures to promote sanctions and export controls...more
5/30/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Policy ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
National Security ,
New Legislation ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
TWEA
Sigma-Aldrich, Inc., d/b/a MilliporeSigma (“MilliporeSigma”), a U.S. life sciences company based in Massachusetts, escaped criminal charges for export control violations, despite a former sales person’s scheme to illegally...more
5/29/2024
/ China ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Government Investigations ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Life Sciences ,
National Security ,
Wire Fraud
In this new aggressive era of sanctions and export controls enforcement, companies need to understand the potential risks that DOJ and/or OFAC may identify a company for sanctions investigation....more
5/14/2024
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Customs ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) ,
Whistleblowers
As DOJ, OFAC and BIS ramp up sanctions and export controls enforcement, they have continued to provide important compliance guidance. You have to give the enforcement agencies credit — on the one hand, they regularly warn of...more
4/18/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
Boeing continues to struggle. As troubles mount for Boeing, it is clear that it suffers from real and pervasive culture issues that have been reflected in serious safety failures, financial difficulties, regulatory...more
3/6/2024
/ Aviation Industry ,
Boeing ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corruption ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Ethics ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
ITAR ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Settlement ,
US Department of State
As always, I tend to repeat myself. However, one important point needs to be repeated — DOJ is in the midst of launching an aggressive sanctions and export control program against corporations and individuals. DOJ has...more
1/23/2024
/ Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
Each quarter, we send many of our clients a quarterly trade compliance update, highlighting important developments over the last few months and summarizing key points for important sanctions programs.
About the document: ...more
11/1/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List
It looks like the days of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” are numbered. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced Thursday that it had imposed sanctions on two entities, and...more
10/13/2023
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Infrastructure ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Vessels
On September 27, 2023, the United States Department of Commerce’s Office of Antiboycott Compliance, a division of the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), publicized an unanticipated and relatively rare enforcement action...more
9/13/2023
/ Antiboycott Requirements ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Popular ,
US Trade Policies
In another significant step notifying global businesses of the new realities – companies are about to face aggressive coordinated criminal and civil prosecutions for sanctions and export control violations. The last piece in...more
8/11/2023
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
Among other things, on May 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a sweeping new set of restrictions that collectively operate to deter the Putin Regime from acquiring...more
The Justice Department has made it clear that it intends to prioritize criminal prosecution of national security cases to prevent hostile nation-states from illegally acquiring sensitive U.S technology. To this end, DOJ...more
Companies have to demand a new focus from their CEOs, senior executives and legal compliance team in response to the new DOJ and regulatory initiatives. These steps are not just suggestions nor items that can be prioritized...more
We are living in a rapidly changing economic landscape. Companies are under the gun to navigate “traditional issues,” such as challenging economic conditions ranging from inflation, and a predicted recession, to supply chain...more
On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) Office of Export Enforcement (“OEE”) released a set of “policy clarifications” in the context of a memorandum authored by the...more
Matt Axelrod, the Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, at the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, must be grinning with satisfaction that BIS delivered, in a big way, after he...more
On March 30, 2023, the United States Department of State announced the adoption—in conjunction with a host of international partners—of a specific Code of Conduct related to human rights considerations in the context of...more