Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) and the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) released new rules easing the remaining travel and export financing restrictions on Cuba, offering new opportunities for U.S. businesses to engage with Cuba.
January 2016
Classic Catch 22? Dilemma of Foreign Companies Faced With Comply with US Subpoena and Possible Foreign Sanctions or Violate Subpoena and Possible Domestic Sanctions
By Zheng Xie & Mike Annis on
On Wednesday, Judge Richard Sullivan of the Southern District of New York relieved the Bank of China from an order issuing $50,000 of daily fines for failing to comply with two subpoenas for information on account holders accused of selling goods counterfeit “Gucci” goods. The matter provides an interesting case study of at least one dilemma facing foreign companies doing business in the United States – whether to comply with a US-issued subpoena knowing that compliance would break foreign law.