An often overlooked, but potentially substantial risk factor in a company’s export compliance strategy is the degree to which the company is both familiar with—and adheres to—U.S. Departments of Treasury and Commerce...more
The Justice Department recently announced a settlement with Avnet Asia for illegal shipments of sensitive U.S. commodities to China and Iran. Under the settlement, DOJ agreed to a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) in exchange...more
2/23/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Commodities ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Electronics ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Sanction Violations ,
Software
PT Bukit Muria Jaya (BMJ), a global supplier of cigarette paper based in Indonesia, agreed to pay $1,561,570 for conspiracy to commit bank fraud as part of a scheme to deceive various banks in order to collect payments for...more
2/19/2021
/ Bank Fraud ,
Corruption ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exports ,
Financial Transactions ,
Fraudulent Wire Transfers ,
Indonesia ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Tobacco ,
White Collar Crimes
In the new Biden Administration, companies should expect aggressive enforcement of trade sanctions. At the same time, in response to Russian aggression and the Solar Winds cyber-attack, OFAC is likely to implement new and...more
2/18/2021
/ Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Banks ,
France ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Sanction Violations ,
Syria ,
White Collar Crimes
The 2020 OFAC enforcement record underscores the importance of sanctions compliance. Yet, companies appear to move slowly in response to sanctions risks, often relying on outdated or outmoded screening technologies and...more
The pandemic and its impact is the story of 2020 – no doubt. Federal prosecutors and regulatory enforcement agencies faced unprecedented challenges....more
OFAC reported two new enforcement actions in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. The two new enforcement actions are interesting examples of sanctions enforcement, one of which involved the first against a digital...more
Companies have to implement a sanctions compliance program (SCP). When I use the term SCP, I mean much more than just having one employee screen a customer before a shipment is sent. Too many companies are behind the 8-ball...more
Companies have had over one year to review and implement a sanctions compliance guidance program. This last year, however, has been difficult (to say the least) given the COVID-19 pandemic....more
What a year for OFAC – Amazon settled its case for OFAC violations and now add Berkshire Hathaway. Lat year, Apple settled with OFAC for sanctions violations....more
OFAC continues to chalk up enforcement actions. For the year, even with the pandemic slow down, OFAC has reached 13 settlement agreements totaling $18.6 million in penalties....more
10/8/2020
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Cuba ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Trade Relations ,
White Collar Crimes
OFAC is a steady enforcement agency. As the COVID-19 pandemic settled down, OFAC resumed aggressive enforcement of economic sanctions. ...more
9/30/2020
/ Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wireless Industry
Comtech Telecommunications (“Comtech”) and Comtech EF Data Corp. (“EF Data”) agreed to pay OFAC $894,111 for violations of the Sudan Sanctions Program.
...more
Deutsche Bank continues to have its problems – legal, compliance and reputational. Now, we can add OFAC sanctions compliance to the list of Deutsche Bank’s troubles....more
9/15/2020
/ Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Transactions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
SWIFT ,
White Collar Crimes
I often remind readers – government prosecutors regularly tell you what they plan to do in advance, and then they do it. So do not be surprised when the government does something they told you they would do....more
It is hard to argue that Apple and Amazon do not have the resources to implement state-of-the-art OFAC compliance programs. After all, the two largest companies in the world should stand as beacons of compliance with the full...more
In the last two years, OFAC has brought four enforcement actions that focus on an organization’s “screening errors.” These include: American Express; (2) Cobham Metalics; (3) Apple; and (4) Amazon. In today’s posting, I will...more
8/5/2020
/ American Express ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine ,
WMD
Here is another profound grasp of the obvious (for which I have a knack for delivering) – compliance and legal professionals can learn a number of lessons from individual enforcement actions. In many cases, however, there is...more
When you are hot, you are hot. (And when you are not, you are not; Thank you Jerry Reed, Country Singer). OFAC is hot and resumed its enforcement streak, settling three enforcement actions in three weeks....more
8/4/2020
/ Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Failure to Comply ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Trump Administration ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department and OFAC announced a settlement with Essentra FZE Company Limited (“Essentra FZE”), a cigarette filter and tear tape manufacturer, for violation of the North Korea Sanctions Program. The violations...more
Amazon joins the exclusive club of high-tech OFAC violators. Last year, Apple settled with OFAC for sanctions violations. This year, we can add Amazon to the list of OFAC violators. ...more
7/22/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Crimea ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
General Licenses ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Screening Procedures ,
Syria
In response to an increase in deceptive shipping practices, on May 14, 2020, the State Department, Treasury Department and the Coast Guard issued a warning to the maritime industry, and those involved in the energy and metals...more
6/15/2020
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Coast Guard ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Maritime Transport ,
Shipping ,
Shipping Cargo ,
Supply Chain ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
US Department of State ,
Vessels
At the outset, if you have a headache after reading my first two posts on the beneficial ownership issue, I apologize. The issues twist and turn depending on whether the situation involves OFAC sanctions or corruption risks,...more
We repeatedly hear about the importance of beneficial ownership, and the requirement that companies confirm beneficial ownership of its third-parties, vendors and suppliers. At the same time, there is increasing pressure...more
OFAC announced a $257k settlement with Biomin America, Inc. (“Biomin”), an animal nutrition company based in Overland, Kansas, to settle violations of the Cuban Sanctions Program....more