7 July 1998
Source: Fax from Office of Public Affairs, Department of Commerce
Thanks to CK.
WASHINGTON D C 20230
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
G 98-45
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 7, 1998
CONTACTS: Mary Hanley
(202) 482-4883
Susan Hofer
(202) 482-2721
SECRETARY DALEY ANNOUNCES NEW EXPORT GUIDELINES
FOR FINANCIAL SERVICE ENCRYPTION PRODUCTS
WASHINGTON -- Commerce Secretary William Daley announced today that the Clinton Administration has finalized guidelines to allow the export of U.S. manufactured encryption products of any bit-length when used by banks, financial institutions and their branches around the world to secure private electronic transactions. Strong encryption products -- with or without recovery features -- will be exportable to eligible institutions without a license, after a one-time review, to banks and financial institutions in 45 countries. Eligible institutions include banks, security firms, brokers and credit card companies.
These new guidelines will affect encryption exports for almost 70 percent of the world's financial institutions and the world's 100 largest banks. Today's announcement follows last year's decision to allow special treatment of encryption products used to secure financial communications and transactions.
"This action gives our nation's financial institutions the flexibility they need to remain globally competitive. Importantly, it balances those needs with law enforcement, national security and foreign policy concerns. Through steps like this we can continue to encourage the development of an electronic commerce system users can trust," said Secretary William M. Daley in a speech to exporters at the Commerce Department's Bureau of Export Administration's annual Update Conference.
The 45 eligible countries are either members of the international anti-money laundering accord, the Financial Action Task Force, or have enacted anti-money laundering laws. The list of currently eligible countries is attached. Manufacturers and other exporters will be able to ship the products to these countries with only minimum reporting requirements. Products which have already been reviewed can be shipped to financial institutions of eligible countries under license exception without further review.
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Exports to banks and financial institutions in countries which are not eligible for license exception will continue to require approval under either export licensing arrangements or individual licenses. Applications for such licenses arrangements will be reviewed by agencies with a presumption of approval unless agencies raise specific concerns about a country or financial end user regarding participation in money laundering, narcotics trafficking or similar concerns.
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http://www.osec.doc.gov/opa/
http://www.bxa.doc.gov
License Exception Eligibility List
ANGUILLA
ANTIGUA
ARGENTINA
ARUBA
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRIA
BAHAMAS
BELGIUM
BARBADOS
BRAZIL
CANADA
CROATIA
DENMARK
DOMINICA
ECUADOR
FINLAND
FRANCE
GERMANY
GREECE
HONG KONG
HUNGARY
ICELAND
IRELAND
ITALY
JAPAN
KENYA
LUXEMBOURG
MONACO
NETHERLANDS
NEW ZEALAND
NORWAY
POLAND
PORTUGAL
ST. VINCENT/GRENADINES
ST. KITTS & NEVIS
SEYCHELLES
SINGAPORE
SPAIN
SWEDEN
SWITZERLAND
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
TURKEY
UNITED KINGDOM
UNITED STATES
URUGUAY
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