OFAC SDN

Specially Designated Nationals List

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is part of the US Department of the Treasury, which administers and enforces sanctions based on US policy and security. The Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list is a data set containing individuals and companies that have been sanctioned by OFAC, and are therefore barred from working or doing business in the United States.

What OFAC SDN Screening Covers

OFAC maintains a list of individuals and organizations subject to U.S. sanctions, including:

• Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs): Individuals and companies whose assets are blocked and who are barred from doing business with U.S. persons.
• Terrorists: Individuals and entities identified under terrorism-related sanctions programs.
• Narcotics Traffickers: Individuals and organizations sanctioned under counter-narcotics programs.
• Blocked Persons and Parties: Individuals and entities subject to various economic sanctions programs tied to specific countries, regions, or activities.

Hiring or doing business with a sanctioned individual can result in severe civil and criminal penalties — fines ranging from thousands to millions of dollars, and potential imprisonment. OFAC screening is how you verify that your candidates and business relationships are clear.

Why Professional OFAC Screening Matters

OFAC's public search tool is free to access, but name-based matching produces frequent false positives that require expertise to resolve. Common names, transliteration variations, and incomplete data can flag candidates who have no connection to sanctioned individuals. Without proper verification, your hiring team is making compliance decisions on uncertain data - and when penalties are this severe, uncertainty isn't an option.

CIChecked's screening searches the OFAC database on your behalf and reports results with the context and accuracy your compliance obligations require.

Bottom Line: OFAC SDN screening checks your candidates against the U.S. Treasury's sanctions list - terrorists, narcotics traffickers, blocked persons, and specially designated nationals who are barred from doing business in the United States. When the penalties for getting it wrong are measured in millions, professional screening isn't a suggestion.