SDN List

Sanctions

Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list — OFAC's list of entities with whom US persons cannot transact.

Sources

1. US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control — Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) and the SDN List ofac.treasury.gov accessed 23 September 2026

OFAC’s own answer to “What is an SDN?” describes two different kinds of listing. It “publishes a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. It also lists individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific.” Both go on the same list: “collectively, such individuals and companies are called ‘Specially Designated Nationals’ or ‘SDNs’.” The consequence is stated as briefly: “their assets are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.” Two operational points from the same page. The list “is frequently updated. There is no predetermined timetable, but rather names are added or removed as necessary and appropriate” — so a screening result is only as good as its date. And OFAC publishes machine-readable formats, “including XML and fixed field/delimited files that can be integrated into databases”, which is the intended route for anyone screening at volume.

What this source settles. Where the text above quotes a regulation or a statute, that instrument governs and its own later amendments prevail over any summary. Where it quotes an institution’s explanatory page or a standard-setter, it is authoritative for how the body understands its own regime and for the figures the body itself publishes — and not for whether the regime works. Read the instrument for obligations, and look beyond the issuer for evaluation.

Related terms

• AML Compliance
• Denied Party Screening
• Dual Use Goods
• End User Certificate
• EU Sanctions
• FATF

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).