Tagged: ofac

2 May, 2023

British American Tobacco Pays $629 Million to Settle Violations of North Korea Sanctions (Part I of II)

The Justice Department warned companies that sanctions enforcement is the “new FCPA.” DOJ just delivered its first salvo to back up its message. As part of a broad effort to prosecute funding of North Korea’s nuclear program, DOJ and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a joint settlement with British American Tobacco and its Asian marketing subsidiary (“BAT”), under which BAT agreed to pay...

Events

1 May, 2023

Webinar: “The New FCPA”: Sanctions and Export Control Enforcement

Webinar: “The New FCPA”: Sanctions and Export Control Enforcement Tuesday, June 6, 2023, 12 Noon EST Sign Up HERE Last year, the Department of Justice warned global companies of a new, aggressive strategy for enforcement of trade sanctions and export controls. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stated that sanctions and export enforcement constituted “The New FCPA.” DOJ, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control...

Podcasts

24 Apr, 2023

Episode 271 — A Deep Dive into the Microsoft OFAC Settlement

Microsoft agreed to pay $2,980,265.86 for illegal exports of services and software to sanctioned jurisdictions and Specially Designated Nationals (“SDNs”) in violation of OFAC’s Cuba, Iran, Syria, and Ukraine-/Russia-Related sanctions programs. Most of the violations involved prohibited Russian entities or persons located in the Crimea region of Ukraine. Microsoft failed to identify and prevent the use of its products by prohibited parties. Microsoft voluntarily disclosed...

General

12 Apr, 2023

Uphold HQ Settles OFAC Violations for $72,230

Uphold is a California-based money service business. Uphold agreed to pay OFAC $72,230 to resolve multiple sanctions program violations. Between March 2017 and Maay 2022, Uphold and its affiliates processed 152 transactions totaling $180,5765 in violation of the Iran, Cuba and Venezuela sanctions programs. The customers involved in the illegal transactions self-identified as being located in Cuba or Iran and for employees of the Venezuela...

General

12 Apr, 2023

Microsoft’s OFAC Settlement Underscores Important Remedial Measures (Part II of II)

Microsoft’s remedial steps provide important best-practices for companies facing similar risk factors in the global economy, especially for global software companies that rely on Internet-based operations. According to OFAC, Microsoft demonstrated a reckless disregard for U.S. sanctions by failing to identify that over a seven-year period, more than $12,000,000 worth of software and services were exported from the United States through Microsoft systems and servers...

General

10 Apr, 2023

Microsoft Pays OFAC and BIS Over $3.3 Million for Violations of Multiple Sanctions Programs (Part I of II)

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 situation changed, however, in the first week of April 2023 – OFAC announced two enforcement actions: a major action against Microsoft and another against Uphold HQ, Inc. (“Uphold”), a U.S. money service...

Podcasts

10 Apr, 2023

Episode 269 — Deep Dive into the Wells Fargo OFAC Sanctions Settlement

Wells Fargo added to its Grand Slam of Enforcement with its recent settlement of OFAC violations and paid $30 million to settle the matter. Wells Fargo’s violations occurred during a seven-year period, 2008 to 2015, and stemmed from its acquisition of Wachovia Bank. Wells Fargo provided a foreign bank (part of predecessor Wachovia) with trade-finance software that Wachovia used to process trade financing transactions with...

General

5 Apr, 2023

Wells Fargo Fumbles Sanctions Compliance Demonstrating An Absence of Culture of Compliance (Part II of II)

Not that I am a glutton for punishment, but I always find enforcement actions to supply a number of valuable lessons learned. There are always instructive nuggets of information, opportunities missed, and root causes that highlight important compliance messaging and principles. Wells Fargo has unintentionally provided a variety of these important lessons — not from positive behaviors but from a laundry list of violations that...

General

3 Apr, 2023

Wells Fargo Pays OFAC $30 Million to Settle Sanctions Violations (Part I of II)

In our lifetime (however long or short), there is no way any company will ever match Wells Fargo for its record of misconduct, criminal and civil enforcement, and regulatory fines and penalties. No one, no way. Wells Fargo added to its Grand Slam of Enforcement with its recent settlement of OFAC violations and paid $30 million to settle the matter. Wells Fargo is a one-entity...

Podcasts

20 Mar, 2023

Episode 266 — Joint Compliance Notice Issued on Sanctions and Export Controls Evasion

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 Departments of Commerce and Treasury issued a Joint Compliance Note (“JCN”) on the importance of compliance with the Russia Sanctions and Export Control requirement, which provides important descriptions of red flags and...