ZTE is stepping up compliance management inside the company after the Chinese telecom equipment vendor was found by the US to have breached its probation agreement to export restrictions.

The company is trying to strengthen its compliance management by requiring every employee to relearn European and American laws and regulations, as well as knowledge such as anti-bribery. Only those who have achieved the full marks of 100 points are able to pass the internal compliance examination inside the company, a local Chinese report said on Thursday,[1] citing people familiar with the matter.

Monday's export ban from the US[2] Department of Commerce came after the company was found in violation of its settlement terms with the US government.

In March 2017, ZTE had agreed[3] to pay a combined civil and criminal penalty and forfeiture of $1.19 billion for its illegal shipments of telecom equipment to Iran and North Korea. ZTE had also agreed seven-year suspended denial of export privileges, which could be activated when any parts of the agreement were not met or any new violations were found.

This week, the US alleged that ZTE lied to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) about disciplinary actions supposedly enforced on senior employees relating to the illegal shipments, with ZTE rewarding staff and senior management who had engaged in illegal conduct instead of reprimanding them.

Read this: Who's hurt by the ZTE ban? US consumers and businesses[4]

The resulting seven-year-long sanction could be a major blow to ZTE as its major carriers and smartphone businesses have rested on supplies from US companies including processors, chipsets, and the Android operating system.

High-level company executives are all lobbying for a settlement of

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