WASHINGTON: The United States government on Thursday announced a settlement with Microsoft over apparent violations of sanctions and export controls. Microsoft has agreed to pay nearly $3 million to settle its potential civil liability for more than 1,300 apparent sanctions violations between 2012 and 2019 involving Cuba, Iran, Syria, and Russia.
The violations included the export of services or software from the US to sanctioned jurisdictions.
The US Treasury Department said that Microsoft’s conduct was “non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed.”
Most of the violations involved blocked Russian organizations or persons located in the Crimea region of Ukraine.
The violations occurred as a result of Microsoft’s failure to identify and prevent the use of its products by prohibited parties.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 before launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Microsoft acknowledges failures in sanctions compliance
In an emailed statement, Microsoft acknowledged failures in its sanctions compliance and stated it had cooperated with the investigation and was pleased with the settlement.
“Microsoft takes sanctions compliance and export control very seriously, which is why after learning of the screening failures and infractions of some employees, we voluntarily disclosed them to the concerned authorities,” a company spokesperson said.
The US Treasury Department stated that the causes of sanctions violations included a lack of complete or accurate information on the identities of the end customers for Microsoft products. There were also shortcomings in Microsoft’s restricted-party screening.
The settlement follows a string of high-profile sanctions cases in recent years as the US government seeks to clamp down on violations by US companies. Last year, JPMorgan Chase paid more than $920 million to settle charges of violating US sanctions against Cuba, Iran, and Sudan.
