Recently, the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice submitted a Statement of Interest in In re: Multiplan Health Insurance Provider Litigation, a class action presently pending before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, to clarify the legal framework governing the use of common pricing algorithms as a potential basis for liability under Section 1 of the Sherman...

The recent sentencing of Israeli freight forwarder Gal Haimovich to two years in federal prison for violations of U.S. export controls serves as a striking example of the aggressive enforcement posture adopted by U.S. authorities in response to the circumvention of trade restrictions on Russia. Prosecuted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the case underscores the severity with which...

Heightened federal scrutiny of unauthorized technology transfers to foreign entities has once again resulted in high-profile criminal convictions, as two senior executives of Quadrant Magnetics, a Kentucky-based manufacturer specializing in rare earth magnetics, have pleaded guilty in federal district court to charges stemming from the unlawful transmission of ITAR-controlled technical data to an affiliate in China. The case, which underscores the heightened scrutiny of corporate...

In one of the most significant enforcement actions involving the illicit export of aircraft components to Russia since the imposition of sweeping sanctions in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Justice recently unsealed an indictment charging FlightTime Enterprises, Inc. (“FTE”) and three of its employees implicated in a complex scheme to circumvent U.S. export controls. The indictment, filed in the...

In one of the first enforcement actions of 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a final order against Haas Automation, Inc., a leading manufacturer of computer numerical control (“CNC”) machines, for dozens of violations of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). The enforcement action stems from allegations that Haas facilitated the unauthorized export, reexport, or transfer of U.S.-origin machine...

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) recently issued a Final Order against The Indium Corporation of America, citing eleven (11) alleged violations of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) between April 14, 2022, and March 31, 2023. The violations involved unauthorized exports of solder preforms, solder wires, and solder ribbons to Russia. These items, though classified as EAR99, required an export...

In one of the more notable enforcement actions of 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) recently imposed a $1,104,408 civil penalty on a U.S. person for 75 separate violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (“ITSR”). The underlying violations, which occurred from 2019 to 2022, involved the purchase, renovation, and operation of a hotel on the Caspian...

On November 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) imposed a $500,000 monetary penalty on GlobalFoundries U.S. 2 LLC and its parent, GlobalFoundries U.S. Inc., for a series of unauthorized exports to SJ Semiconductor (“SJS”), a restricted party contained on BIS’s ubiquitous Entity List. This recent enforcement action reflects BIS’s steadfast commitment to enforcing U.S. export controls, especially in...

In a significant enforcement action, the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) has charged Oregon-based Precision Castparts Corp. (“PCC”) with multiple violations of the Arms Export Control Act (“AECA”) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). These charges stem from unauthorized exports of sensitive technical data to foreign nationals employed by one of PCC’s subsidiaries, Mold Masters Intl., LLC (“Mold...

On October 9, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued critical guidance aimed at enhancing financial institutions’ compliance with the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). This development comes at a time when financial institutions are increasingly becoming focal points in the enforcement of U.S. export controls, particularly given the geopolitical tensions following Russia’s further incursion into Ukraine and the ongoing...