Customs and Trade Law Weekly Snapshot
Here is a recap of the latest customs and international trade law news: 
Goldman Sachs Pays $2.9 Billion in FCPA Settlement
Largest FCPA Settlement to Date
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced in October that Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (“Goldman Sachs”) agreed to pay $2.9 billion as part of a settlement agreement. The settlement was a result of the agencies’ enforcement action after they learned that Goldman Sachs had allegedly paid $1.6 billion in bribes to officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) to secure its position as the underwriter of $6.5 billion in three bond deals with 1Malaysia Development Berhad. The settlement constitutes the largest Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) settlement ever recorded.
ZTE Barred by U.S. Government & ZTE Fights Back!
Background
China-based Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd (collectively “ZTE”) entered a guilty plea and agreed to pay a combined penalty up to $1.19 billion to settle criminal and civil allegations that ZTE violated U.S. export control laws and U.S. sanctions by illegally shipping U.S.-origin items to Iran.
The record-breaking settlement agreement was with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”). The penalty assessed against ZTE included a $100,871,266 civil monetary penalty imposed by OFAC; a $430,488,798 in combined criminal fines and forfeitures; and a $661,000,000 penalty payable to BIS, of which $300,000,000 were suspended for a seven-year probationary period. […]