Continuing a trend toward greater judicial scrutiny of Department of Justice (DOJ) plea agreements first seen in the district court’s action in the Fokker case, Ed Kinkeade, a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, revised the guilty plea submitted to him by ZTE and the DOJ to reject the corporate monitor agreed to by both ZTE and the DOJ and instead add that the “monitor is a judicial adjunct pursuant to Federal Rule Procedure 53.”

In place of the monitor proposed by ZTE and DOJ, the Judge selected former Texas state district court judge, James Stanton. Judge Kinkeade also revised the agreement to ensure the court has a more active role in several ways including: (a) removing DOJ’s role in reviewing the monitor’s workplan, which will now be written by the court, (b) indicating the monitor will report to the court, and (c) clarifying that the court, not DOJ, “shall decide any disputed issues between the Monitor, the Company, and the Department.”

In light of the settlement of administrative and criminal enforcement actions against ZTE, the End-User Review Committee (ERC) at the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) removed both companies from the Entity List on March 29.

For more information, contact: Jeff Snyder, Carlton Greene, Cari Stinebower, Dj Wolff, Chris Monahan, Jana del-Cerro

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Photo of Carlton Greene Carlton Greene

Carlton Greene is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s International Trade and White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement groups. He provides strategic advice to clients on U.S. economic sanctions, Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering…

Carlton Greene is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s International Trade and White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement groups. He provides strategic advice to clients on U.S. economic sanctions, Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering (AML) laws and regulations, export controls, and anti-corruption/anti-bribery laws and regulations. Carlton is the former chief counsel at FinCEN (the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network), the U.S. AML regulator responsible for administering the Bank Secrecy Act.

Photo of Dj Wolff Dj Wolff

David (Dj) Wolff is a partner and attorney at law in the firm’s Washington, D.C. and London offices and a director with C&M International, the firm’s trade policy affiliate.

At Crowell & Moring, he practices in the International Trade Group, where his practice…

David (Dj) Wolff is a partner and attorney at law in the firm’s Washington, D.C. and London offices and a director with C&M International, the firm’s trade policy affiliate.

At Crowell & Moring, he practices in the International Trade Group, where his practice covers compliance with U.S. economic sanctions, export controls and antiboycott regimes, and anti-money laundering (AML) laws and regulations. He is experienced in providing day-to-day compliance guidance, developing compliance programs including through on-site compliance trainings, responding to government inquiries, conducting internal investigations, representing them during civil and criminal enforcement proceedings, and, in collaboration with colleagues, managing the potential conflict of laws that can arise from the interaction between extraterritorial impacts of U.S. regulations and third country “blocking” laws or data privacy regulations. Dj splits his time between Washington and London, working regularly with European clients and colleagues to provide coordinated guidance on U.S., U.K., and EU sanctions compliance and enforcement. Dj also has extensive experience in international mergers and acquisitions, advising both buyers and sellers regarding the international trade implications of a potential deal.