Commerce Appoints Former Federal Prosecutor to Lead US Monitoring of ZTE

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said he appointed former federal prosecutor Roscoe Howard of Barnes & Thornburg to be the U.S. government’s special compliance coordinator leading monitoring ZTE’s compliance with the settlement that lifted the Department of Commerce’s ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE. The settlement, which took effect in July, included $1.76 billion in fines and other fees and an agreement for ZTE to allow U.S. inspectors to monitor the company's compliance with U.S. export control laws (see 1807130048). Congressional pique over Commerce’s lift of the ZTE ban failed to result in a reversal of the decision. Capitol Hill passed a conference version of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that contained language to bar U.S. agencies from using “risky” technology produced by ZTE or fellow Chinese telecom equipment firm Huawei, rather than harder language that would have reinstated the ZTE ban (see 1807200053 and 1807260049). “Today’s appointment is the continuation of the unprecedented measures imposed on ZTE by the Department of Commerce,” Ross said in a Friday news release. Howard “is exceptionally well-versed in corporate compliance, having tried more than 100 cases as a federal prosecutor, as well as helping those in the private sector on compliance and ethics issues.” Commerce didn’t comment on reports Ross had earlier chosen former Commerce Assistant Secretary-Export Administration Peter Lichtenbaum to lead the U.S. compliance team but rescinded the offer after learning Lichtenbaum was among a group of national security officials who signed onto an August 2016 letter opposing President Donald Trump’s candidacy.