Overview

• Cadence admitted conspiring to violate U.S. export controls by selling electronic design automation tools to China’s National University of Defense Technology.
• The company agreed to forfeit $140 million in criminal fines and civil penalties under its federal court plea agreement.
• Subpoenas from the Commerce Department in 2021 and the Justice Department in 2023 followed revelations of roughly 50 unauthorized shipments via the CSCC alias between 2015 and 2020.
• Several employees at Cadence’s China subsidiary were terminated after internal and government investigators uncovered the illicit transfers.
• As part of the deal, Cadence will serve three years of probation under heightened scrutiny as U.S. export controls tighten.