Microsoft has agreed to pay around $3 million to settle over 1,300 apparent sanctions violations involving exporting services or software from the US to Cuba, Iran, Syria, and Russia. The US and Microsoft reached a settlement over the tech company’s apparent violations of sanctions and export controls, which it voluntarily disclosed.
The US Treasury Department stated that Microsoft’s conduct was not egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed. Most of the violations, which took place between 2012 and 2019, involved blocked Russian entities or persons in the Crimea region of Ukraine, and this occurred because of Microsoft’s failure to identify and prevent the use of its products by prohibited parties.
The company has yet to deal with other complaints. The company has registered its cooperation with the authorities over the probe and was pleased with the settlement. Microsoft has emphasized that it takes export control and sanctions compliance very seriously. The company voluntarily disclosed the screening failures and infractions of a few employees to the appropriate authorities.
The causes of sanctions violations included a lack of complete or accurate information on the identities of the end customers for Microsoft products, as well as shortcomings in Microsoft’s restricted-party screening.
However, with the legal compliance, the company is all set to put the fiasco behind and make progress in its business.
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