Barclay’s violated international sanctions by permitting its employees to accept payments into the US from banks in blocked countries, including Iran, Myanmar, Cuba and Libya.

According the the Wall Street Journal article, “Barclays Settles U.S. Charges”

In a settlement with U.S. and New York prosecutors made public Monday, the London-based bank agreed to pay $298 million to settle criminal charges. And it acknowledged that its employees, between 1995 and 2006, helped banks in Iran, Cuba, Libya, Myanmar and Sudan evade U.S. regulations prohibiting payments into the U.S.

Between 1995 and 2006, prosecuters allege that Barclays accepted over $500 million in transactions, concertedly covering up the country names where the illegal payments originated from.

In other cases, Barclays returned payments out of fear they would be detected by U.S. officials, sending fax cover sheets that said: “Payments to U.S.A. must NOT contain the word listed below.” Prosecutors said payments often were re-sent after references to the sanctioned countries, which included Sudan and Myanmar, were omitted.

Other recent high-value fines have come through in recent months, including:

• ABN Amro settled for $500 million to end allegations that it helped Iran, Libya, Sudan and Cuba evade U.S. sanctions by “stripping” the identities of transactions to conceal the countries from which they originated.
• Credit Suisse Group paid $536 million to settle similar violations involving transactions with Iran.
• In 2009, a unit of London-based Lloyds Banking Group paid $350 million related to similar charges after being accused of masking the origin of payments from Iran and Sudan.

WSJ discusses the Barclay’s case in the first half of the video below:

Xe Services, formerly called “Blackwater,” was also fined this week for violating export regulations under ITAR, or the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. While acting as a contractor for the US government in Iraq, the company committed 288 violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), including the “unauthorized export of defense items and provision of defense services to foreign-end users in multiple countries from 2003 to 2009.”  While no sensitive technologies were involved, the items do require a license before they can be exported.

The New York Times reported that Xe Services committed violations included illegally exporting weapons to Afghanistan, unauthorized proposals to train troops in Sudan, providing Taiwanese police officers with sniper training, and shipping military equipment to its personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The company has settled the charges with the State Department to the tune of $42 million. Several outstanding allegations, investigations, and indictments remain in process, however, as these aren’t trade compliance related I’ll leave them for your own personal reading at NYT.

Just goes to show, an ounce of prevention, using trade compliance systems, is worth a pound of cure.

Special Thanks to Global Trade Content Blog and the Export Compliance Group on LinkedIn.

Screen Restricted Parties to Prevent Doing Business with Sanctioned Countries:

White Paper: Six Best Practices to Improve Compliance with a Restricted Party Screening Solution: In this white paper, we look at some critical features to look for when searching for an optimal RPS solution, and how RPS solutions can manage even high-volume and complex screening processes.

This 60-minute round-table discussion covers best practices for developing your company’s Export Management and Compliance Programs, including:

• Strategic Value of your Export Management and Compliance Programs
• Core Elements of an Effective Program
• Steps Required to Build an Export Compliance Program
• Sharing your Strategy with your C-level Superiors
• Key Technology Considerations to Support Your Program

Hosted by American Shipper magazine, this webinar is a ‘must-see‘ if you’re learning how companies implement processes and systems that create a competitive advantage, and drive compliance with the Export Administration Regulations.

View the Free Export Compliance Management Webinar Now!

If you’re interested in attending, RSVP via our event page on LinkedIn, or send an email to emilythornton (at) managementdynamics (dot) com -  We hope to see you there!

Opening access to foreign markets, especially the fast-growing developing countries in Asia and South America, remains a politically touchy matter that will require the cooperation of Congress. A free-trade agreement with South Korea that was negotiated under President George W. Bush and that has been endorsed by Mr. Obama still awaits Congressional ratification, as do agreements with Colombia and Panama, and important issues remain unresolved in each.

Even more critical, by some measures, is the rising strength of the dollar, which increases the cost of American goods and makes them less competitive. The dollar has risen in value relative to the euro and the pound and remains overvalued, in the view of many economists, against China’s renminbi.

“When the dollar does get excessively valued relative to other currencies, exports don’t grow, period,” said Franklin J. Vargo, a former Commerce Department official who is the vice president for international economic affairs of the National Association of Manufacturers.

image credit: kevinzhengli

Exports in the first four months of 2010 have increased by 17 % versus the same period in 2009. Imports, however, are growing even faster. In May, the trade deficit in goods and services was $42.3 billion, up from $24.9 billion a year earlier.

Another problem for US manufacturers looking to pump up their exports is the difficulty in decoding tariff rates and exporting to countries with high tariffs. One major apparel manufacturer, urged officials to make it easier for exporters to find accurate data on tariff rates.

Exporters often struggle with the complex rules and documentation required by foreign governments. Additionally, each country to which they export has its own set of regulations. Exporters sometimes resort to simply overpaying “just to be safe,” resulting in loss of potential revenue. Other exporters face delays, resubmitting their documentation and payments, or pay unnecessary fines when they don’t follow the import regulations exactly.

Exporting your product into a country with high import tariffs also puts a damper on growth- your products won’t sell when they’re significantly more expensive than the competitors.  For example, a wine industry expert says, “The single most restrictive barrier to wine exports remains the high import tariffs of most of the major markets buying U.S. wine today.”

Read more about the barriers to increasing exports at the New York Times: Hurdles Deter Obama’s Pledge to Double Exports.

Benchmark Report: Export Compliance Management

This report profiles export compliance programs of large, small, & medium-sized enterprises in many industries to reveal challenges companies face in managing export compliance. Receive a copy of the Export Compliance Benchmark!

Sponsored by Management Dynamics (in partnership with BPE), the webinar will take place on July 28th at 2 pm ET.

The hour-long round table discussion will include the following expert panelists:

• Beth Peterson, President of BPE
• Joe Burks, Director of Trade Compliance for Cooper Industries
• Nathan Pieri, VP of Product Development and Marketing for Management Dynamics

These experts will discuss best practices for developing your company’s Export Management and Compliance Programs (EMCPs), including:

• Strategic value of your EMCP
• The core elements of an effective EMCP
• The steps required to build an EMCP
• Sharing your strategy with your C-level superiors

Learn how your company can implement processes and systems that ensure compliance with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Best of all – it’s FREE!

Sign up today for: Building an Export Management and Compliance Program

• Trade barriers to be removed (Poultry into Russia, Pork & China)
• Job Creation
• Advocacy and financing for US companies wishing to export
• Obama’s Export Council, containing members from Pfizer, Boeing, Xerox, and Disney
• Free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama, South Korea
• Value of US Dollar

When most people think of export compliance, images of large multinational corporations come to mind. Universities are in the business of education and they don’t sell products, so why would a university need export compliance procedures?

Since 9/11, the U.S. government has become increasingly concerned with foreign nationals on student visas gaining access through research grants to sensitive information and technology. Because of increased scrutiny, one incentive is the cost of non-compliance.

Penalties range from 5 to 10 years imprisonment and fines of $250,000 to $1,000,000. Additional costs include loss of contracts, grants, employees and other collaborative efforts.

Some of the recent violations include:

• Professor convicted for allowing unauthorized foreign citizens access to restricted technology in violation of the Arms Export Control Act
• University fined for financial dealings with Iran and Cuba
• Universities cited for failure to obtain licenses for access by foreign nationals to military technology
• University involved in unauthorized export of biological materials

For more information about University Export Compliance, I recommend:

• Academic Export Compliance
• More posts from this blog following academic trade compliance violations
• Restricted Party Screening Solutions
• Export Compliance On-Demand Solutions
• White Paper: 6 Best Practices for Improving Compliance with a Restricted Party Screening Solution

Many firms walk away from these duty savings due to the difficulty of learning origin rules or due to the time-frame involved in accurately qualifying a product for reduced duties – even when the benefits are significant.

Please participate in a survey on how companies manage NAFTA qualification! With the results, we hope to advance industry knowledge of best practices and better understand overall use of NAFTA processes across a wide spectrum of organizations.

Take the 2010 NAFTA Benchmarking Survey

This is a brief survey and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Your answers are kept strictly confidential and will be reported anonymously.

Customs & Trade Solutions, Inc. and Management Dynamics are working to identify best practices when dealing with the complexities of NAFTA. Our goal is to identify best practices, and pass those along to you so that your company may benefit from improved processes and procedures.

The results will be used to prepare a report which Management Dynamics and CTSI Advisors will distribute during the AAEI Annual Conference, June 6-8. If you plan to attend the AAEI Conference, please stop by our booth for a copy of the results. Otherwise, we will email you a copy when it’s ready.

Click Here to Take the 2010 NAFTA Benchmarking Survey

The survey will close on June 2nd, so please be sure to participate early.

Please refer to your own company’s policy on whether this would be considered a work-related activity, and be sensitive to what data about the company can be provided.

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ, April 21, 2010 — Management Dynamics, a leading provider of Global Trade Management (GTM) solutions, today announced that Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY) implemented its Export Compliance solution to automate and maintain compliance with international export regulations.

The enterprise-class on-demand solution has enabled Infineon to streamline its process for license determination and sanctioned party screening across its high volume, highly complex supply chain.

Screening over 10,000 daily transactions across 12,000 customers worldwide, Infineon needed a robust and scalable solution to automate compliance with all export regulations for shipping products to foreign countries, as well as the measures to ensure compliance with national and international anti-terrorism regulations.

The company required vendor experience in automated license determination for exports out of multiple countries while adhering to and providing automated US re-export license decisions, especially when exporting dual-use products. Infineon selected Management Dynamics’ Export Compliance solution for its accuracy in resolving trade compliance issues, industry leading Global Trade Content, and scalability.

“The semiconductor industry is global and among the most dynamic industries in the world. Infineon strives to be the most responsive partner for its customers’ needs, while at the same time ensuring compliance with national and international export regulations and sanction programs,” said Wolfgang Keichel, Vice President, Information Technology for Supply Chain Management at Infineon Technologies AG. “Management Dynamics met the complex needs of Infineon in a very efficient and professional way.”

Fully integrated into Infineon’s SAP order management system across all business units, the Export Compliance solution centralizes and manages its international transaction management process including restricted party screening (RPS), export license determination and tracking. Audit trails and complete management reporting provide Infineon with a compliant process that adheres to US, European and Asian government regulations and reduces risks and costs associated with global trade.

In addition to Trade Export, Infineon implemented Management Dynamics’ End-Use Manager, an on-demand solution that generates customized end-use surveys for parties involved in any cross-border transaction, to help its compliance team to comprehensively survey and collect end-use statements from customers, suppliers and employees.

“Many multinational corporations are increasingly exporting to more countries, which comes with greater responsibility to ensure that complex export requirements are met, in particular for exporters of controlled technologies,” said Jim Preuninger, CEO of Management Dynamics. “We are delighted that Infineon Technologies selected our solutions to help manage export compliance and we welcome them into our growing number of customers with operations focused in Europe.”

About Infineon Technologies
Infineon Technologies, headquartered in Neubiberg near Munich, Germany, focuses on the three central challenges facing modern society: Energy Efficiency, Communications and Security. The company offers semiconductors and system solutions for automotive and industrial electronics, chip card and security applications as well as applications in communications.

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