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Thad McBride

Thad McBride advises public and private companies on the legal considerations essential to successful business operations in a global marketplace. He focuses his practice on counseling clients on compliance with U.S. export regulations (ITAR and EAR), economic sanctions and embargoes, import controls (CBP), and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). He also advises clients on anti-boycott controls, and assists companies with matters involving the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Thad supports international companies across a range of industries, including aviation, automotive, defense, energy, financial services, manufacturing, medical devices, oilfield services, professional services, research and development, retail, and technology. Beyond advising on day-to-day compliance matters, Thad regularly assists clients in investigations and enforcement actions brought by government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the U.S. State Department Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Commerce Department Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS), and the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Contact:Read more about Thad McBride

On December 23, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and TD Bank, N.A. (TD) reached a settlement to resolve TD’s violations of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations and the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations.  On January 12, OFAC and Sojitz Hong Kong (Sojitz HK) reached a settlement agreement in connection with Sojitz’s violations of the Iranian Transaction and Sanction Regulations (ITSR).  These two resolutions, reached only a few weeks apart, serve as a reminder of OFAC’s broad remit to administer and enforce U.S. sanctions regulations.

TD Bank Violated North Korea and Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions

The United States maintains comprehensive sanctions on North Korea, and most transactions with the country and nationals of the country, wherever located, are prohibited without a license.  While a license authorizes banks in the United States to conduct certain transactions with the North Korean Mission to the United Nations, that license does not extend to maintaining accounts for employees of the North Korean Mission.

According to OFAC, TD processed 1,479 transactions and maintained nine accounts on behalf of five employees of the North Korean Mission without a license from OFAC.  OFAC noted that TD’s sanctions screening did not pick up individual employees of the government of North Korea.  OFAC also noted that TD employees apparently misclassified North Korean Mission personnel when processing passports by filling in the South Korean country code or leaving the citizenship identification field blank.Continue Reading OFAC Enforcement Update: Settlements Show Value of Internal Controls, Disclosure

I am looking forward to presenting at the 11th Annual U.S. Export & Re-Export Compliance for Canadian Operations Virtual Conference. The conference will take place January 26-27, 2022 with pre-conference workshops on January 25, 2022. I will be presenting with John Boscariol, Partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP based in Toronto, Canada.

Our session, “Updating Your Risk-Based Economic Sanctions Compliance Program: The Latest U.S. and Canadian Restrictions, and Their Practical Impact,” will take you through the most critical economic sanctions developments and trends affecting exports and reexports. The discussion will focus on new, unanticipated pitfalls to avoid for 2022 and beyond.

  • Comparing and contrasting U.S. and Canadian sanctions-and their practical impact on export and reexport operations
  • The rapidly changing China landscape, and the impact on due diligence and supply chain risks
  • Impact of the PRC’s Foreign Anti-Sanctions Regulation and the new Blocking Statute
  • Performing due diligence amid the increased use of The Entity List
  • Iran: Status report and negotiations with Iran and what is on the horizon

Continue Reading [VIRTUAL EVENT] Updating Your Risk-Based Economic Sanctions Compliance Program: The Latest U.S. and Canadian Restrictions, and Their Practical Impact

On November 10, the U.S. Departments of State, Treasury, and Commerce issued an unusual joint advisory (the “advisory”) on the risk of investing and interacting with certain Cambodian individuals and entities. The advisory is evidence of the United States’ active campaign against corruption; the advisory also continues the recent U.S. practice of employing sanctions and other trade restrictions to fight corruption.

Specific Cambodian Sectors Designated as High Risk

In the advisory, the government identified the following Cambodian sectors as high risk:

  1. The financial, real estate, casino, and infrastructure sectors – deemed high risk because of illicit finance activities and related risks.
  2. The manufacturing and timber sectors of Cambodia – deemed high risk because of trafficking of persons, wildlife, narcotics, and related risks.

The advisory emphasizes that involvement, or potential involvement, of U.S. companies in any of those sectors could result in reputational, economic, and/or legal risk.Continue Reading U.S. Imposes Restrictions, Issues Warning on Business with Cambodia

The U.S. government continues to vigorously enforce U.S. export laws against both U.S. and non-U.S. companies. In addition to monetary penalties, companies charged with violating U.S. export laws may be subject to strict compliance obligations. In extreme cases, the U.S. government may even suspend a company’s export privileges.

In this webinar, we will discuss recent…

On October 12, the U.S. Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that it imposed a civil penalty fine against VTA Telecom Corporation (VTA) for the unauthorized export of controlled commodities to Vietnam.  Additionally, BIS is requiring VTA to improve its export control compliance efforts and retain a Director of Trade Compliance.  Alternatively, VTA can dissolve or cease operations.

VTA, located in Milpitas, California, was established in 2013 as a subsidiary of a Vietnamese state-owned telecommunications company.  BIS is the primary U.S. government agency responsible for administering and enforcing export controls on commercial items that could support weapons proliferation and other threats to U.S. national security.

According to BIS, VTA procured and exported items from the United States to its parent company in Vietnam with knowledge that certain of those exports were intended to support a Vietnamese defense program. To settle the matter, VTA agreed to the following:

  1. A penalty of $1,869,372.
  2. Expenditure of $25,000 to fund its internal export compliance program (ICP).
  3. Hiring and retention of a Director of Trade Compliance to oversee VTA’s export activities for at least two years.

Continue Reading BIS Imposes Civil Fine and Compels Hiring of Compliance Official or Cease Operations

On September 28, the U.S. Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that it has imposed a civil penalty fine and denial of export privileges against Vorago Technologies (Vorago) for the unauthorized export of controlled commodities to Russia.

Vorago is a U.S. manufacturer of integrated circuits for use in environments with high radiation levels and extreme temperatures.  The company’s products are particularly well suited for use in space.  BIS is the primary U.S. government agency that administers and enforces U.S. export controls on commercial items, including particularly strict licensing requirements on items that can be used with weapons of mass destruction or conventional weapons.

According to BIS, Vorago engaged in a conspiracy with a Russian company, Cosmos Complect (Cosmos), to circumvent U.S. export controls.  To settle the matter, Vorago agreed to the following:

  1. A penalty of $497,000, and
  2. Denial of export privileges until September 2023.

The denial of export privileges, and roughly half of the penalty, will be suspended as long as Vorago complies with the terms of the settlement.Continue Reading U.S. Technology Company Pays for Unauthorized Exports to Russia

On August 3, 2021, the U.S. State Department Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) issued an order laying out charges and imposing a monetary penalty of $6.6 million on Keysight Technologies, a U.S. technology and software company, for 24 alleged violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).  The ITAR are the primary U.S. regulations that control exports of defense articles, services, and technology, including software.

Keysight and DDTC settled the matter through a Consent Agreement that also requires Keysight to take specific compliance measures, including maintaining a designated compliance officer, for a period of three years.

We want to highlight three particular elements of this matter.Continue Reading Export Enforcement Update: The Importance of Commodity Classification

We are looking forward to participating in Solvability’s GovCon Summit 2021 of which the firm also serves as a sponsor. This year’s GovCon Summit will provide tactics and strategies from the nation’s top GovCon professionals that have helped thousands of companies win government contracts.

Attendees of GovCon Summit 2021 will learn how to increase revenue…

I recently provided insights on export control law related to technology and research in a recent article in Chemistry World.  The article covers a recent settlement between Princeton University and the U.S. Commerce Department. Under the settlement, Princeton agreed to pay a fine for alleged export violations related to research sent to foreign facilities in…

On February 1, the U.S. Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS), announced a settlement (available here) with Princeton University in connection with 37 alleged violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).  The EAR are the main regulations that govern exports of commercial goods, software and technology; BIS has principal responsibility for administering and enforcing the EAR.

The settlement is a valuable reminder of the amount of export-controlled activity that takes place at and involving universities, academic medical centers, and other research institutions.  Penalties for export violations can be significant.  Legal departments, compliance departments, and offices of sponsored research therefore must ensure that faculty – many of whom may be non-U.S. nationals – are aware of their responsibilities under U.S. export law.

Alleged Violations

According to BIS, the violations occurred when Princeton exported strains and recombinants of animal pathogen to non-U.S. research institutions.  These items are controlled for export for chemical and biological reasons, and thus an export license is required to make the exports.  Princeton did not obtain the necessary export licenses.Continue Reading Princeton Penalized for Alleged Research-Related Export Violations

From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network
From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network

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