Navigators Insurance Company Settles on Potential US Sanctions Breaches

zoom New York-based marine insurance specialist Navigators Insurance Company has agreed to pay a USD  271,815 fine to settle potential civil liability for 48 apparent violations of U.S. sanctions imposed on North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and Sudan, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) reports. Between May 8, 2008 and April 1, 2011, Navigators and its London branch Navigators U.K. issued global protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance policies that provided coverage to North Korean-flagged vessels and covered incidents that occurred in or involved Iran, Sudan, or Cuba—some of which led to the payment of claims. Navigators did not have a formal OFAC compliance program in place at the time it engaged in these apparent violations, and personnel within Navigators U.K. misinterpreted the applicability of OFAC sanctions regulations, according to the notice. The total base penalty amount for the 48 apparent violations was USD 755,042, which was lowered due to several mitigating factors, including Navigators not receiving a penalty notice or Finding of Violation from OFAC in the five years preceding the earliest date of the apparent violations. The company also took appropriate remedial action in response to the apparent violations, including the formation and implementation of a comprehensive OFAC compliance program, as well as cooperated with OFAC’s investigation by providing all the information, and by signing a tolling agreement and two extensions to that agreement.