U.S. Fines NCR for Subsidiaries’ Compliance With Arab Boycott

The Commerce Department fined NCR Corp. $381,000 on Tuesday for the alleged compliance by nine of its subsidiaries with an Arab boycott of Israel.

The department said the penalty was the largest in the 10-year history of the anti-boycott law, which is part of the Export Administration Act.

A department statement said that NCR, based in Dayton, Ohio, agreed to the negotiated settlement and had voluntarily disclosed the 266 alleged violations, said to have occurred between 1982 and 1985.

The department said the nine foreign units allegedly provided 256 items of prohibited information to Arab League countries about the subsidiaries’ business relations with boycotted countries and blacklisted people. The Arab League includes Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Libya.

Also, the NCR units agreed on 10 occasions to comply with the regulations of the Arab boycott of Israel, the department said.

The announcement was the second in a month from the department. In late July, the department accused Safeway Stores Inc. of violating the act through its dealings with licensee stores in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Oakland-based Safeway denied the allegations.

NCR neither admitted nor denied the alleged violations.