Assessing Risks Associated With US Export Control Laws

Bruce Fox, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Main Street America Group Inc, USA

The economy continues to become more global and the ability and ease of transmitting and receiving electronic data grows almost daily. Combined with the proliferation of physical and cyber threats and terrorist activities, it is understandable that the US government has renewed focus on national security with the underlying goal of keeping products and technology out of the hands of foreign entities that may be a threat to US national security. It is the policy of the United States to restrict the export and re-export of items that would make a significant contribution to the military potential of any other country or combination of countries that would prove detrimental to the national security of the United States. For many years, the US government has regulated international transactions through numerous governmental agencies acting under a variety of complex and overlapping rules and regulations to promote national security and support US international policies. Currently, the US government is actively engaged in efforts to revise and reform its system of export control laws.

Bruce R. Fox is Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary with The Main Street America Group headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Mr. Fox’s duties include state and federal regulatory compliance, mergers and acquisitions, complex transactions, corporate governance and litigation management. After a long career as an insurance defense litigator, handling civil trials and appeals in US state and federal courts, Mr. Fox became in-house counsel with The Main Street America Group, first by managing its staff counsel operations in Massachusetts before moving into a corporate counsel role and eventually becoming general counsel. Mr. Fox spent many years as an adjunct professor at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts and is the author of several legal articles published in US national law journals.

The Main Street America Group is a US-based property/casualty insurance company providing insurance products to individuals and businesses throughout the US. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, The Main Street America Group offers a wide range of commercial and personal insurance products, as well as fidelity and surety bond products, to "Main Street" individuals, families and businesses through nine property/casualty insurance carriers. A.M. Best Company gives The Main Street America Groups insurance carriers a financial strength rating of "A" (Excellent) and an issuer credit rating of “A+.” The Main Street America Group is the founding company partner of Trusted Choice®, the branding program of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, as well as one of six investor carriers in the independent agency system’s Consumer Agent Portal.