Ken Weigel presented "Conducting an Internal Investigation: How to Deal with ITAR Violations and Voluntary Disclosures" on June 5, 10:45am - 11:30am. Topics of his discussion included the following.
- Immediate decisions to make upon learning of a potential violation
- Conducting an internal investigation
- How much is enough in trying to learn the facts?
- Disclose or not?
- Role of in-house counsel
- Waiver of privilege
- Compliance programmes and compliance monitors
- Determining the appropriate investigative strategy, including the remediation action plan
- Establishing a dialogue with the government, and when and how to engage the regulators
- Complying with EU and other national privacy and data protection laws
- Handling concurrent or consecutive criminal and civil investigations
- Settlements strategies and consent agreements
Exporters, manufacturers and brokers of defense articles or services are currently being visited by government officials under the Company Visit Program (CVP), designed to elicit more information on shipments of these goods and improve federal oversight. These visits could result in the company being investigated for potential violations. A vigorous enforcement of the ITAR is expected to be a key priority for the Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls in 2009 and for many more years to come.
This conference provided attendees with an update on regulatory and ITAR enforcement developments, best practices in re-export licensing, as well as hands-on recommendations and solutions on how to cost-effectively implement ITAR controls.
Key conference panels included the following.
- Latest developments on the continuous ITAR enforcement in Europe in the light of recent consent agreements
- Trends in pursuing and penalizing individuals responsible for ITAR violations
- Impact of the DDTC’s Company Visit Program (CVP) on Europe-based companies
- National governments’ views on the effect that the differences in export control laws has on the defense industry
- Real implications of the proposed Directive on Intra -EU transfers of defense products
- ITAR licensing: Managing the export control process of US suppliers/manufacturers of ITAR components, partners and customers including TAAs, MLAs, WDAs & DSP-5s
- Understanding and overcoming key compliance challenges when operating as a foreign broker of U.S. defense articles
- Tools and procedures leading companies have experienced to perform compliant re-exports and re-transfers
- Best practices in dealing with sub-contractors, foreign commercial intermediaries and managing your downstream supply chain to mitigate compliance risks
- Preparing and reviewing corporate documents in view of voluntary self disclosure to the DDTC
- Dealing with complex nationality and intangible transfers limitations
- Recoding and keeping sensitive information or documents
- Building and implementing a cost- effective ITAR compliance programme that incorporates European and national export controls regulations
June 4-5, 2009
Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski / Munich, Germany