OFAC SDN List
The U.S. Treasury's list of individuals, entities, and countries subject to economic sanctions — transactions with SDN-listed parties are generally prohibited.
Definition
The OFAC SDN List — officially the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List — is a database maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identifying individuals, entities, groups, and governments subject to U.S. economic sanctions. U.S. persons and companies are generally prohibited from transacting with SDN-listed parties, and any assets they hold within U.S. jurisdiction must be blocked (frozen).
What the SDN List Contains
The SDN List contains over 11,000 entries spanning individuals, companies, vessels, and aircraft designated under dozens of different sanctions programs. These programs cover terrorism (SDGT), narcotics trafficking (SDNTK), weapons proliferation (NPWMD), cyber activity, human rights violations, and country-specific programs including Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Belarus, and others.
Each entry includes the party's full legal name, known aliases and "doing business as" names, date of birth, national identification numbers, addresses, and one or more program codes identifying which sanctions program applies. Entries frequently include dozens of name variations to assist in identification.
Who Must Comply with the OFAC SDN List?
OFAC sanctions apply broadly. U.S. persons — citizens and permanent residents anywhere in the world — must comply. U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries must comply. Anyone physically present in the United States must comply. And any transaction that passes through the U.S. financial system — even if conducted between two non-U.S. parties — is subject to OFAC jurisdiction.
This means non-U.S. companies that transact in U.S. dollars, use U.S. correspondent banking relationships, have U.S. investors, or employ U.S. nationals may also face OFAC exposure. The extraterritorial reach of U.S. sanctions is one of the most significant compliance challenges for multinational companies.
How Often Is the SDN List Updated?
OFAC updates the SDN List on a continuous basis — additions, removals, and modifications occur multiple times per week in response to new executive orders, court orders, international coordination with allies, and OFAC's own investigations. There is no fixed update schedule; the list can change any day, including in response to rapidly evolving geopolitical situations.
This frequency is why downloading a periodic snapshot of the SDN List is insufficient for a compliance program. A party that passed screening last month may be newly designated today. Effective compliance requires a system that syncs with the current published list data.
Penalties for OFAC SDN Violations
The penalties for transacting with an SDN-listed party are among the most severe in U.S. regulatory law. Civil penalties can reach $1 million per transaction or twice the value of the transaction, whichever is greater. Criminal penalties include up to 20 years imprisonment. OFAC also publishes enforcement actions, making violations public record — with significant reputational consequences beyond the financial penalty.
How TradeLasso Helps
TradeLasso syncs with the OFAC SDN List daily through the official U.S. Consolidated Screening List feed, applies intelligent fuzzy matching to every search, and generates a timestamped PDF report documenting the database version used — in under 5 seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many entries are on the OFAC SDN List?
The SDN List contains approximately 11,000–12,000 entries at any given time, though this number changes constantly as new designations are added and existing entries are modified or removed. Entries include individuals, companies, vessels, aircraft, and other entities across dozens of different sanctions programs.
What is the difference between the SDN List and other OFAC lists?
OFAC maintains several distinct lists. The SDN List is the broadest — covering individuals and entities designated under all OFAC sanctions programs. Other OFAC lists include the Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List (SSI), the Foreign Sanctions Evaders List, and the Non-SDN Palestinian Legislative Council List. The U.S. Consolidated Screening List (CSL) consolidates all OFAC lists alongside BIS and State Department lists into a single searchable database.
Can a party be removed from the OFAC SDN List?
Yes. OFAC has an established delisting process. Designated parties may petition OFAC for removal by demonstrating that the basis for designation no longer applies. OFAC reviews petitions but delisting is not automatic — it requires a legal or factual basis for removal or a documented change in circumstances.
Does the OFAC SDN List only apply to companies doing business with sanctioned countries?
No. The SDN List designates specific individuals and entities regardless of their country — many SDN-listed parties are nationals of countries that are not themselves subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions. A company can be entirely compliant with country-level sanctions programs while still being prohibited from transacting with a specific individual or company on the SDN List.