Where Industry and Security Intersect
What's New | Sitemap | Search
(WASHINGTON) - The Commerce Department imposed a $30,500 civil penalty on Arab Banking Corporation, a New York branch of Arab Banking Corporation of Bahrain, for alleged violations of the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Act and Regulations, John Despres, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, announced.
The Department alleged that on three separate occasions Arab Banking Corporation violated the antiboycott provisions when it failed to maintain records containing information relating to reportable requests it had received. The Department also alleged that Arab Banking Corporation failed, on seven occasions, to report to the Department its receipt of boycott-related requests in letters of credit.
While neither admitting nor denying the alleged antiboycott violations, Arab Banking Corporation agreed to pay the civil penalty to settle the case.
The antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Act and Regulations apply to foreign boycotts that are fostered or imposed against a country which is friendly to the United States and which is not itself the object of any form of boycott pursuant to United States law or regulation.
At the time of the alleged violations, the antiboycott provisions required U.S. companies and individuals to maintain records containing information relating to a reportable boycott request for a three-year period after receipt of the request. Current provisions call for a 5-year record-retention period. U.S. companies and individuals are also required to report promptly to the Department each boycott-related request they receive.
In April of 2002 the Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) changed its name to the Bureau of Industry and Security(BIS). For historical purposes we have not changed the references to BXA in the legacy documents found in the Archived Press and Public Information.