Stanley Black and Decker (“Stanley”) and its Chinese subsidiary Jiangsu Guoqiang Tools Co. (“GQ”) agreed to pay approximately $1.9 million to settle OFAC charges that it violated the Iran Sanctions Program. The OFAC...more
3/28/2019
/ Black & Decker ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITSR ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Settlement Agreements
OFAC is definitely off to a fast start this year – it recently announced its fourth enforcement action for 2019. So far, OFAC has collected over $7 million in civil penalties. ...more
OFAC continues to pile up enforcement actions for sanctions violations. In yet another example of a failure of companies to address compliance, to follow up on compliance and to ensure ultimate compliance, AppliChem...more
What a difference a year makes — The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) announced two sanctions settlements in the beginning of 2019, a stark difference from 2018 when OFAC announced its first...more
2/15/2019
/ Cosmetics ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Comply ,
Goods or Services ,
Imports ,
Internal Controls ,
Iran Sanctions ,
North Korea ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Supply Chain
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) rarely backs down. Recently, in response to significant ownership and governance changes, OFAC removed three Russian companies, EN+ Group (EN+), UC Rusal plc...more
1/10/2019
/ Board of Directors ,
Change in Control ,
Change of Ownership ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Independent Directors ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Russia ,
Settlement Agreements ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has steadily expanded its influence in the enforcement landscape. Global companies now face a complex regime of sanctions that require careful navigation....more
The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) recently announced a settlement against Cobham Holdings (and its former subsidiary Aeroflex/Metelics, Inc. (“Metelics”, a software company) for $87,507 for...more
12/20/2018
/ Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Software ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
On November 5, 2018 the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) completed the process to re-impose the Iran sanctions program. The 180-day wind-down period for termination of the United States’...more
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) announced its third enforcement action for 2018. While OFAC has been busy with implementing new sanctions regimes and re-imposing the Iran sanctions regime,...more
The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) recently announced the settlement of the Epsilon enforcement action. This case requires a theme song and there is none better than Trucking from Grateful...more
9/26/2018
/ Appeals ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Investigations ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Subpoenas ,
Technology Sector ,
Third-Party Risk ,
White Collar Crimes
Okay, I have to admit – it is getting hard to keep up with all the changes to the Russia Sanctions Program. The Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Asset Control’s imposition of the Oligarch Sanctions and Congress’...more
9/11/2018
/ Ammunition ,
CAATSA ,
Commerce Control List ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Relations ,
ITAR ,
Licensing Rules ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Trump Administration ,
US Munitions List ,
US Trade Policies
The Trump Administration issued a new executive order on August 6, 2018, in order to reimpose the first tranche of the Iran sanctions lifted by the former Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”). ...more
8/30/2018
/ Banking Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petroleum ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration
I will admit it – I changed this posting from its original draft. I intended to write about the absence of any OFAC enforcement actions for 2018. I went to double-check the OFAC enforcement website, and lo and behold, OFAC...more
6/14/2018
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Sudan ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
The Trump Administration Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control activity has been interesting to watch. On the one hand, OFAC has been implementing aggressive sanctions against Russia in reaction to Russia’s...more
Just as businesses were growing or planning to grow into Iran, they had the proverbial rug pulled out from under them. Last week, on May 8, 2018, the administration announced its intention to withdraw from the Joint...more
5/14/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration
On April 6, 2018, OFAC announced a new round of sanctions against Russian individuals and companies. Relying on its authority under existing executive orders, OFAC designated seven Russian oligarchs and 12 companies they own...more
Sanctions compliance is challenging because of the changing nature of sanctions regulations and individuals identified as Specially Designated Nationals. With each new administration, foreign policy priorities are usually...more
12/7/2017
/ Compliance ,
Cuba ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Sudan ,
Ukraine ,
Venezuela
In this era of aggressive enforcement, global companies have to integrate beneficial ownership requirements when conducting due diligence of business associates and when engaging customers....more
Many companies have been laser-focused on anti-corruption compliance, and with good reason given the risks and consequences of an anti-corruption enforcement action. In doing so, companies have to be careful to avoid ignoring...more
Politics and sanctions law go hand-in-hand. In a rare instance of bi-partisanship, Congress united to constrain the administration’s ability to modify the existing sanctions program against Russia. At the same time, Congress...more
8/8/2017
/ Aviation Industry ,
Banking Sector ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Relations ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
National Security ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Technology Sector ,
Vessels
In a bizarre enforcement action, The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) assessed a $2 million civil monetary penalty against ExxonMobil (“Exxon”) for violations of the Ukraine sanctions....more
Sanctions enforcement continues to be a significant risk. With the focus on unraveling elaborate corporate ownership schemes, the risk of conducting business with sanctioned individuals or entities is increasing....more
Here is a real zinger – clients sometimes do not tell their lawyers the truth.
I will wait a minute while you get off the floor because I know everyone is shocked and amazed that this happens. But in the recent ZTE case,...more
3/14/2017
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Commerce Control List ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Export Controls ,
Forensic Accounting ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes ,
ZTE
Companies interact with a large number of entities in the outside world – customers, third party intermediaries and vendors and suppliers to name the most significant ones. These relationships are the lifeblood of a company....more
Forgive me for overusing the term “convergence” but when the shoe fits, I say “wear it.” If you are managing corporate risks and responsible for securing export licenses, ensuring that you are complying with OFAC sanctions...more