By The Data Nerd, Founder & Compliance Engineer ·
Sanctions Lists Explained
Sanctions screening requires checking counterparties against multiple lists maintained by different jurisdictions. Below is a guide to the major sanctions lists that matter for AI agent compliance.
- OFAC Sanctions — US Treasury master list (~19,086 names + 782 wallets)
- OFAC SDN List — Specially Designated Nationals (~19,086 names)
- OFAC Consolidated Sanctions List — Non-SDN combined list
- OFAC Non-SDN Lists — Sectoral, FSE, and program-specific lists
- EU Consolidated Sanctions List — European Union (~10,000 entries)
- UN Consolidated Sanctions List — UN Security Council (~700 designations)
- BIS Entity List — US export control (~2,500 entities)
- UK HMT Sanctions List — UK OFSI (~9,000 entries)
Screen against all lists (free, no API key)
curl "https://sanctionsai.dev/sanctions?name=Counterparty+Name"Free tier: 5 checks/day by IP. Real OFAC data, refreshed daily.
Frequently asked questions
Which sanctions list should I screen against?
At minimum, screen against OFAC SDN. For full coverage, also screen against EU, UN, and UK lists. sanctionsai.dev covers OFAC SDN comprehensively.
How often are sanctions lists updated?
OFAC SDN updates multiple times per week; EU and UK several times per month; UN only via Security Council resolutions. sanctionsai.dev refreshes its OFAC index daily.
Do AI agents need to screen against all lists?
At minimum OFAC SDN if the operator is a US person. EU agents should add EU Consolidated. Full multi-list screening is available via sanctionsai.dev's paid tiers.