The Department of State on Monday said it has reached a $6.6 million settlement with Keysight Technologies, Inc. [KEYS] to resolve alleged export violations of arms control laws.
Terms of the settlement include suspension of $2.5 million of the payment on the condition that the California-based company uses the funds to implement a State Department-approved remedial compliance program. Keysight is also required to hire an outside compliance officer for two years and conduct an external audit to review its compliance efforts.
The State Department’s Office of Defense Trade Controls Policy in 2018 determined that Keysight exported its Multi-Emitter Scenario Generation (MESG) software, which “can be used with certain hardware to model and simulate multi-emitter electronic warfare threat scenarios for testing radar equipment on fixed or mobile platforms,” the department said.
The MESG software was exported on eight separate occasions to China, Russia, Japan, Israel and Canada, the department said it its charging letter to Keysight. In the same letter, the department said that Keysight claimed it exported the software in “good faith” but didn’t realize the product was subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulation controls.
The State Department is not debarring Keysight from government contracting because of the company’s cooperation into the department’s review of the alleged violation.