OFAC Human Rights Sanctions

Sanctions targeting human rights abusers and corrupt officials worldwide, administered under the Global Magnitsky Act.

TL;DR

TL;DR: Human rights sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act block named abusers and corrupt officials anywhere in the world. Screening catches these individuals and their networks regardless of country.

What the Global Magnitsky program does

The Global Magnitsky sanctions target perpetrators of human rights abuse and corruption worldwide, without being tied to a single country program. Designations name individuals and the entities they own or control, and they flow onto the SDN List. Because the program is global, a counterparty in any jurisdiction can be a match.

Why it matters for agent payments

Because these designations are not limited to one region, an agent cannot rely on geography to decide who is safe. Screening each counterparty against the SDN List, including its wallets and ownership links, is the only reliable way to catch a globally designated individual. A single check before payment turns a worldwide list into a per-transaction control.

What screening covers

• Named abusers and corrupt officials
• Entities they own or control
• Associated wallets and aliases

Why global scope changes screening

The global scope changes screening because there is no safe geography to assume. A counterparty in any country can be a Global Magnitsky designee, so the check cannot be limited to high-risk regions. For an agent, that means screening every counterparty against the SDN List regardless of location, and treating a match as BLOCK wherever it appears. The list is the boundary, not the map.