The US company is said to have traded with Huawei despite the Chinese company being on a restricted list. The US government has launched an investigation into the chip design company Synopsys. Bloomberg reports, citing anonymous sources.
Synopsys is accused of collaborating with Hisilicon and SMIC without permission. Synopsys has passed on software and chip blueprints to Hisilicon via partners in China. The semiconductor manufacturer Hisilicon is owned by Huawei. Hisilicon and SMIC are on the US Department of Commerce Restrictive Entity List.
US-based companies like Synopsys need the US Department of Commerce's approval before doing business with companies on this restricted list. The Chinese company Huawei has also been on this list since 2019.
No Official Information Yet
The ministry did not directly confirm the investigations. But it is "vigorously investigating allegations of violations of export administration regulations, including attempts to transfer goods or technology to or between entities on the Entity List," a spokesman for the Department of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce said in a statement. Enforcement measures resulting from an investigation would only be published after those investigations had been completed.
In December, Synopsys noted a subpoena from the BIS Division of Industry and Security in its annual report to the SEC. "Submission of information on transactions with certain Chinese companies," it says. Since 2017, Synopsys has been expanding its business with customers in China.
Synopsys is one of the leading providers of EDA software. For the fiscal year 2021, Synopsys reported revenue of $4.2 billion. According to reports from Bloomberg, the company's share price fell below $300.
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