British American Tobacco Agrees to Pay US More Than $635 Million Over North Korea Sanctions

By Kyle Morris

British American Tobacco PLC said Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to resolve investigations into its business activities in relation to North Korea from 2007-17.

The cigarette maker said the agreement--relating to investigations into suspicions of sanctions breaches--will have no impact on 2023 guidance. The total amount payable to the U.S. authorities is $635.2 million plus interest. BAT recognized a provision of 450 million pounds ($561.8 million) relating to the matter in its 2022 half-year report.

British American Tobacco entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ and a civil settlement agreement with OFAC and an indirect BAT subsidiary in Singapore has entered into a plea agreement with DOJ.

"On behalf of BAT, we deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us," Chief Executive Jack Bowles said.

BAT said it ended all business activities related to North Korea by September 2017

Write to Kyle Morris at kyle.morris@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 25, 2023 11:44 ET (15:44 GMT)

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