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
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
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
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
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
Over an eight-year period ending in 2018, Murad, a U.S. cosmetics company, illegally exported goods and services to Iran in 62 separate transactions worth approximately $11 million. Murad was acquired by Unilever United...more
5/31/2023
/ Cosmetics ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Unilever ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
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
OFAC announced only one settlement in the first three months of 2023. Given its ongoing role in the implementation and enforcement of Russia Sanctions, OFAC’s enforcement record so far is completely understandable. The...more
4/11/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Fines ,
Microsoft ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Software
On December 5, 2022, the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) issued new Compliance Program Guidelines, “intended to provide an overview of an effective compliance program and an introduction to...more
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security promised aggressive enforcement of export controls. BIS’s promise extended beyond the Russian-Belarus export controls. BIS has kept its promise....more
On October 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published an interim final rule that significantly expanded export controls designed to thwart China’s efforts to acquire...more
10/19/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Commodities ,
Compliance ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
National Security ,
Semiconductors ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Relations
The Commerce Department has adjusted its export control enforcement program. The Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced the new administrative policies and gave notice to the industry and public. BIS is now...more
8/17/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Commerce Control List ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Settlement Agreements ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
ZTE
It’s been five months since Russia invaded the Ukraine, and the United States has imposed a succession of increasingly severe economic sanctions on Russia and Belarus. A recent study published by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a...more
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) charged Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich with violating U.S. export controls by exporting U.S.-origin aircraft to Russia. In a precedent setting action,...more
6/23/2022
/ Asset Seizure ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Military Conflict ,
Russia ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Ukraine
The evolution in the global economy is raising challenges for anti-corruption compliance. In response to economic dislocations and disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine, businesses...more
5/26/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Ethics ,
Exports ,
Global Market ,
Imports ,
Military Conflict ,
Russia ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), pursuant to Executive Order 14046, Imposing Sanctions on Certain Persons With Respect to the Humanitarian and Human Rights...more
12/3/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Ethiopia ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Goods or Services ,
Human Rights ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular
On November 17, 2021, a bipartisan congressional commission—the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission—released a series of recommendations that called upon the Congress itself to assume a more proactive role in...more
My old adage – when it comes to enforcement initiatives, the government always tells you what they are going to do and then they do it. It is always baffles me when targets of enforcement actions complain that they did not...more
Part 129 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) requires certain persons engaged in “brokering activities” to register with, and pay a fee to, the U.S. Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade...more
8/12/2021
/ Brokers ,
Compliance ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Defense Sector ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
ITAR ,
Registration Requirement