BAT’s North Korea Sanctions Deal Hints at US Approach to Russia

The Justice Department’s $630 million settlement with British American Tobacco plc for evading North Korea sanctions offers a potential road map for multinationals facing heightened US scrutiny over dealings in Russia.

In one sense, the April 25 agreement may be impossible for law enforcement to replicate due to the record-setting penalty and willfully egregious behavior of an industry leader the US says effectively helped finance North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. BAT and a Singapore subsidiary, which pleaded guilty, used front companies to distribute cigarettes inside a rogue nation rarely penetrated by US authorities, the department said.

The government’s long-running investigation ...