Raytheon agrees to pay $8 million fine for export control violations

Raytheon Co, one of the largest U.S. weapons makers, has agreed to pay $8 million in civil penalties to resolve hundreds of alleged violations of U.S. export control laws, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

The State Department said it reached the agreement with Massachusetts-based Raytheon after an extensive enforcement review showed the company's "numerous violations demonstrated a recurring, corporate-wide weakness" in maintaining effective controls of its compliance with U.S. export controls.

The department said it agreed to suspend $4 million of the total amount on the condition that money would be used for government-approved remedial compliance measures. The company also agreed to hire an independent special compliance official to oversee the four-year consent decree, the department said. It said it would not debar Raytheon from further exports since the company voluntarily disclosed nearly all the violations covered by the settlement.

(Reporting By Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Gary Hill)