Well, we are in a new era — a fundamental change has occurred, long in the making. National security and trade enforcement have coalesced to elevate trade risks — sanctions and export controls violations will be prosecuted...more
8/7/2025
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Due Diligence ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
International Trade ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanctions ,
Training
Criminals are not as smart as they think they are. There is nothing so unique that elevates a scheme into the ethereal world of brilliance. The schemes get to be “typical” and the means by which they are executed are often...more
DOJ’s initiation of its aggressive trade enforcement strategy is quickly unfolding — and the new strategy is a real and significant threat to all companies engaged in international trade. We are no longer in the era of FCPA...more
8/5/2025
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Entity List ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade ,
National Security ,
PRC ,
Risk Management ,
Semiconductors ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department
The Trump Administration is aggressively pursuing export controls and sanctions enforcement. In two separate cases, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry...more
7/22/2025
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Huawei ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Penalties ,
Popular ,
Sanctions ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury
What happens when companies ignore red flags, bypass legal advice, and underestimate the reach of U.S. export laws?
In this episode, Michael Volkov unpacks two major enforcement actions from the Department of Commerce’s...more
What happens when a company inherits a sanctions violation through acquisition, and acts fast to fix it?
Can a robust post-acquisition response really save a parent company from prosecution?
In this episode, Michael...more
DOJ’s Unicat resolution is a perfect example of the new trade enforcement reality under the Trump Administration. DOJ spearheaded a global resolution of sanctions, customs and export controls violations, while declining to...more
In an interesting enforcement action reflecting the Administration’s priority on sanctions, export and customs enforcement, DOJ announced a global resolution with DOJ, OFAC, BIS and CBP and Unicat Catalyst Technologies...more
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
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
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
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
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
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.
...more
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
In a relatively rare move for four (4) Cabinet-level Departments, the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justice, State and Treasury issued an advisory notice on June 9, 2023, aimed specifically at reminding industry of their...more
6/15/2023
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drones ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ,
US Department of State
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
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
As we have noted on numerous occasions, the U.S. Russia Sanctions and Export Control Program is unprecedented and a compliance challenge for all organizations. In another unprecedented action, the Justice Department and the...more
3/14/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Goods or Services ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Ukraine
On February 24, 2023—the first anniversary of the Russian Federation’s Ukraine incursion—the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of...more
3/2/2023
/ Blocked Person ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
General Licenses ,
Metals ,
Military Conflict ,
Mining ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine
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