Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 26 entities to the Entity List, while giving relief to one Canadian firm for substantive reforms to its business practices. Under the destinations of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) (6), Egypt (1), Pakistan (16), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (3), the additions are related to alleged violations of export controls, involvement in weapons programs of concern, and evasion of U.S. sanctions and export controls on Russia and Iran. Sandvine Incorporated, an entity listed under the destinations of Canada, India, Japan, Malaysia, Sweden, and the UAE, has been removed following significant reforms to address and prevent the misuse of its technology in ways that undermine democracy and abuse human rights
In a case illustrating the long arm of US sanctions enforcement, Hanoi - based Vietnam Beverage Company Limited has agreed to pay $860,000 on behalf of two of its subsidiaries for apparent violations of OFAC sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The Thai-controlled brewer settled potential fines of nearly $16 million related to $1.4 million of shopments to North Korea.
Compliance-challenged defense contracting giant RTX has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to settle charges of government contract fraud, foreign bribery, and export control violations. The settlement comes on the heels of a $200 million settlement in August with the State Department [12717] for a raft of export control violations. Raytheon will enter into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in connection with a criminal information filed today in the District of Massachusetts charging the firm with two counts of major fraud against the United States. As part of that resolution, Raytheon admitted to engaging in two separate schemes to defraud the Department of Defense (DOD) in connection with the provision of defense articles and services, including PATRIOT missile systems and a radar system. Separately, Raytheon entered into a three-year DPA in connection with a criminal information unsealed today in the Eastern District of New York charging Raytheon with two counts: conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provision of the FCPA for a scheme to bribe a government official in Qatar and conspiracy to violate the AECA for willfully failing to disclose the bribes in export licensing applications with the Department of State as required by part 130 of ITAR.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Moog Inc., a New York-based global manufacturer of motion controls systems for aerospace, defense, industrial and medical markets, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million to resolve the SEC’s charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of bribes paid by its wholly owned Indian subsidiary, Moog Motion Controls Private Limited .
Totonto Dominion Bank will pay over $3 billion in fines and is subject to a cap on US growth after regulators uncovered widespread money laundering failures in the banks Philadelphia and Miami operations. Prosecutors said the bank operated with inadequate guards against money laundering for nearly a decade, failing to act even when staff flagged obvious cases of abuse, such as a customer making daily deposits of $1m in cash.
Two Russian nationals were charged Thursday for export control violations, smuggling, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with a scheme to procure U.S.-sourced microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical electronics components for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.
Precision Castparts Corp. settled allegations that it violated the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) in connection with unauthorized exports of technical data to foreign-person employees from Bhutan, Burundi, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru pertaining to tools (specifically, wax pattern and core dies) and wax patterns consumed in the subsequent production of casting blades used in gas turbine engines
From October, the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) will be empowered to investigate breaches of trade sanctions and impose corresponding civil monetary penalties. We examine the powers OTSI will have, how it will interact with other UK sanctions authorities and what impact it may have.
The Justice Department announced the unsealing of a warrant authorizing the seizure of 41 internet domains used by Russian intelligence agents and their proxies to commit computer fraud and abuse in the United States. As an example of public-private operational collaboration the Department acted concurrently with a Microsoft civil action to restrain 66 internet domains used by the same actors
After a particularly slow second quarter, FCPA enforcement activity picked up between July and September of 2024, with the DOJ initiating one new FCPA-related enforcement action, unsealing two previously filed actions, and issuing one declination letter, according to a tally from Stanford University's FCPA Clearinghouse. "Enforcement activity through Q3 of this year remained well below even the last three years of lower than average enforcement" the report notes
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published its second quarterly update of the boycott Requester List October 1st. This list notifies companies, financial institutions, freight forwarders, individuals, and other U.S. persons of potential sources of certain boycott-related requests they may receive during the regular course of business. Of note, many recent reports come from customers outside the Arab world, including Japan, Brazil, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. The greatest number of non-arab boycott requests originated in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Pakistan.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed a civil penalty of $151,875 against Quantum Corporation, a data storage, management, and protection company to resolve 45 alleged violations of the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Between July 2018 and December 2019, Quantum received 45 requests from its customer, a distributor located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to refrain from importing goods of Israeli origin into the UAE in fulfillment of purchase orders from that customer. Quantum failed to report to BIS the receipt of these requests.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced an administrative settlement against a Texas aviation supply firm, for the submission of a backdated document to make it appear that a transaction complied with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and for exporting military parts without BIS authorization.
On Monday, September 23, DOJ’s Criminal Division announced updates to its guidance for evaluating corporate compliance programs (“ECCP”). . Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri discussed the revisions in her remarks at the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics 23rd Annual Compliance & Ethics Institute, emphasizing the DOJ's efforts to encourage corporations to invest in robust compliance programs and report misconduct when it occurs.
The Justice Department Friday unsealed an indictment charging three Iranian nationals with a conspiracy to hack into accounts of current and former U.S. officials, members of the media, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals associated with U.S. political campaigns.
An FAA contractor was indicted Friday for illegally acting as an agent of the Iranian government to obtain information on the FAA's electrical power systems. Abouzar Rahmati (42) exploited his employment with a US company whichs upported the FAA on a contract related to the power and electrical architecture of the FAA’s National Airspace System (NAS)..
BIS Chief Alan Estevez dismissed an appeal of a Temporary Denial Order issued in June against Russian national Alexey Sumchenko for his activities smuggling aircraft parts through Hong Kong to Russian airline customers. Sumchenko argued that the alleged misconduct outlined in the TDO occurred after he relinquished ownership of the entities, reasoning Judge Tommy Cantrell found unpersuasive.
China announced steps against nine U.S. military-linked firms on Wednesday over U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan, freezing their property within China, in the latest move to put added pressure on the United States to halt its arms sales to the island, Reuters news service reported.
In a speech at the NYU School of Law Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri discussed the newest tool in the Justice Department’s corporate enforcement toolbox: the Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. At the same event another Justice official said over 100 tips were received in the program's first month of operation.
The Justice Department announced the disruption of a botnet consisting of more than 200,000 consumer devices in the United States and worldwide. The botnet devices were infected by Chinese state-sponsored hackers working for Integrity Technology Group, a Beijing-based cyber security firm traded on the Shanghai Exchange as Yongxin Zhicheng Technology Group Co., Ltd.