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Sanctions & AI-Agent Compliance Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the sanctions, OFAC, and agentic-payment terms every compliance-aware builder needs — from the SDN List and the 50% Rule to KYA and x402.

• OFAC — OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control) is the U.S. Treasury agency that administers a…
• SDN List — The SDN List (Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List) is OFAC's list of i…
• Blocked Person — A blocked person is any individual or entity whose property and interests in property are …
• OFAC 50 Percent Rule — Under OFAC's 50 Percent Rule, any entity owned 50% or more, directly or indirectly, in the…
• Secondary Sanctions — Secondary sanctions target non-U.S. persons for engaging in certain transactions with sanc…
• Facilitation — In sanctions law, facilitation is when a U.S. person approves, supports, or assists a tran…
• Strict Liability — OFAC sanctions are enforced on a strict-liability basis for civil penalties: a person can …
• Sanctions Screening — Sanctions screening is the process of checking customers, counterparties, payments, and (f…
• Consolidated Sanctions List — The Consolidated Sanctions List compiles OFAC's non-SDN sanctions lists (such as the Secto…
• False Positive — A false positive is a screening alert where a customer or transaction matches a sanctions-…
• Fuzzy Matching — Fuzzy matching is a screening technique that flags near-matches — accounting for spelling …
• OFAC Civil Penalty — An OFAC civil penalty is a monetary fine imposed for a sanctions violation. Penalties can …
• Voluntary Self-Disclosure — A voluntary self-disclosure (VSD) is a party's own report to OFAC of an apparent sanctions…
• KYC — KYC (Know Your Customer) is the process of verifying a customer's identity and assessing t…
• KYT — KYT (Know Your Transaction) is the practice — common in crypto — of monitoring the details…
• KYA — Know Your Agent (KYA) is the emerging practice of establishing controls around autonomous …
• Travel Rule — The Travel Rule requires financial institutions — and, in many jurisdictions, virtual-asse…
• Wallet Screening — Wallet screening checks a cryptocurrency address against sanctions lists (OFAC now lists s…
• x402 — x402 is a protocol pattern that uses the HTTP 402 'Payment Required' status to let clients…
• Agentic Payment — An agentic payment is a transaction initiated and executed by an autonomous AI agent rathe…

This glossary is general information for educational purposes, not legal or compliance advice. Sanctions rules change; always verify against the official source (OFAC / FinCEN / your regulator) and consult qualified counsel. Definitions summarize public guidance from the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and FinCEN.