Flowserve Agrees to $3 Mil. Settlement for Pump, Valve & Seal Export Violations
Flowserve Corp., a provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets, today announced that it has entered into settlement agreements with both the Commerce Department”s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Treasury Department”s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regarding the company”s self-disclosed incompliance with U.S. export control laws.
Under the settlement, the company has agreed to pay a combined civil penalty of approximately $3 million to these federal agencies and has also agreed to conduct a one-time, post-settlement compliance audit of certain company sites. The full amount of the civil penalty and the cost of the audit have previously been accrued in the company”s financial statements.
According to a Flowserve news release, the settlements come as a result of a voluntary systematic process performed by the company to determine its compliance with respect to U.S. export control and economic sanctions laws and regulations.
The process, which was initiated in March 2006, included the onsite review of approximately 40 sites globally and addressed the period of October 1, 2002, through October 1, 2007.
According to a 2010 Flowserve Annual Report, Form 10 K, found on the company’s website, the company’s review of data collected during that time period showed “a number of process pumps, valves, mechanical seals, and parts related thereto were exported, in limited circumstances, without required export or re-export licenses or without full compliance with all applicable rules and regulations to a number of different countries throughout the world, including certain U.S. sanctioned countries.”
The company completed its disclosures to BIS and OFAC at the end of 2008. Since that time, Flowserve said it has worked closely with the authorities to supplement and clarify specific aspects of the disclosures and has taken a number of actions designed to ensure the effectiveness of its global export compliance program.
“Flowserve is committed to the highest standards of conduct in all business that we do around the world,” said Mark Blinn, Flowserve president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement. “I am proud of the continuing efforts of our outstanding global trade compliance organization in proactively bringing these issues to the forefront and working cooperatively with regulators to bring this matter to a close.”
