OFAC 2023 Enforcement Actions — $Multiple OFAC Penalty (2023)
A summary of notable OFAC enforcement actions and penalties from 2023.
Penalty amount: $Multiple · Year: 2023 · Enforcer: OFAC (US Treasury)
What happened
OFAC 2023 Enforcement Actions was penalized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2023. The case is instructive for any organization handling cross-border payments, crypto transactions, or customer onboarding where sanctioned parties may be present.
Violations cited
- Over $1 billion in total settlements (Binance alone ~$969M)
- Crypto and virtual currency violations dominated
- Multiple cases involved inadequate geolocation controls
Lessons for compliance teams
- Invest in real-time screening infrastructure
- Implement robust geolocation controls
- Conduct regular sanctions risk assessments
- Train staff on sanctions compliance
How this could have been prevented
In nearly every OFAC penalty case, the root cause is the same: inadequate or outdated sanctions screening. The sanctioned parties were on the SDN list at the time — they simply weren't caught. Real-time screening against the current SDN list, with proper name-matching and fuzzy logic, would have flagged most of these transactions before they completed.
Free screening: SanctionsAI provides a free OFAC sanctions screening API. Screen customers, wallets, and transactions against the SDN list in real time. Get API key →