U.S., Microsoft reach settlement over tech firm's sanctions violations

The U.S. and Microsoft reached a settlement over Microsoft’s apparent violations of sanctions and export controls, which it disclosed voluntarily

The United States and Microsoft Corp. reached a settlement on Thursday over the tech firm's apparent violations of sanctions and export controls, which it disclosed voluntarily, the government and the company said.

Microsoft has agreed to remit about $3 million to settle its potential civil liability for more than 1,300 apparent sanctions violations in relation to restrictions on Cuba, Iran, Syria and Russia involving the export of services or software from the U.S. to sanctioned jurisdictions, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.

The Treasury Department added that Microsoft's conduct was "non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed."

A majority of the violations, which took place between 2012 and 2019, involved blocked Russian entities or persons located in the Crimea region of Ukraine, and occurred as a result of Microsoft's failure to identify and prevent the use of its products by prohibited parties, the Treasury Department said.

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Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 before launching a full scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

In an emailed statement to Reuters, Microsoft acknowledged failures in its sanctions compliance and said it had cooperated with the probe and was pleased with the settlement.