3M Settles US Treasury Probe Over Iran-Related Sales

3M Company MMM, the American multinational conglomerate, is on the hook for a substantial settlement following an investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $9.62 million settlement with 3M.

The core of the issue revolved around 3M's alleged sales to an Iranian entity overseen by Iran's law enforcement. This marks another setback for 3M after a recent settlement with the SEC last month.

According to the OFAC, between September 2016 and September 2018, 3M East AG sold 43 orders of reflective license plate sheeting products to a reseller, knowing it was destined for a customer in Iran. These sales persisted even in the face of warnings by third-party diligence professionals, reported the WSJ.

These transactions, encompassing the supposed breaches, reportedly had an approximate worth of $10 million. The settlement, in its entirety, addresses 54 apparent violations of OFAC sanctions on Iran.

The report noted that 3M found in 2019 that a handful of its employees had been responsible for these violations. Following this discovery, the company promptly reported the incident to the authorities and disclosed the details in its filings with the SEC that year.

A month ago, 3M shelled out over $6.5 million to close an SEC investigation. The probe discovered that marketing staff of a 3M subsidiary in China had secretly treated healthcare officials to leisure trips in the U.S. and Australia, a clear breach of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Price Action: MMM shares are trading lower by 0.49% at $97.01 on the last check Friday.

This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.