By The Data Nerd, Founder & Compliance Engineer ·
OFAC Sanctions
Office of Foreign Assets Control · Jurisdiction: United States
The OFAC sanctions list is the US Treasury's master list of individuals and entities that US persons are prohibited from transacting with. Includes SDN, non-SDN, and sectoral sanctions.
Screen against OFAC Sanctions (free, no API key)
curl "https://sanctionsai.dev/sanctions?name=Counterparty+Name"Free tier: 5 checks/day by IP. Real OFAC data, refreshed daily.
List at a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| List name | OFAC Sanctions |
| Full name | Office of Foreign Assets Control |
| Jurisdiction | United States |
| Entry count | ~19,086 names + 782 crypto wallets |
| Update frequency | Daily (Treasury updates frequently) |
| Official source | https://ofac.treasury.gov |
Scope and application
Worldwide — applies to all US persons, US-origin goods, USD transactions, and AI agents operating on behalf of US persons.
How sanctionsai.dev screens this list
sanctionsai.dev ingests OFAC SDN data daily from the US Treasury and vile/ofac-sdn-list GitHub releases. Every screening call checks your counterparty against the full SDN index in under 100ms, with an audit-ready receipt showing timestamp and list version.
Why this list matters for AI agents
AI agents that transact autonomously inherit strict liability for sanctions violations. Before any payment, your agent must screen the recipient against OFAC Sanctions (and ideally all applicable lists). One API call before every transaction is the minimum viable compliance posture.
Frequently asked questions
How often is OFAC Sanctions updated?
Daily (Treasury updates frequently). The sanctionsai.dev API refreshes its index daily so every screening call reflects the latest designations.
Who must comply with OFAC Sanctions?
Worldwide — applies to all US persons, US-origin goods, USD transactions, and AI agents operating on behalf of US persons.
What is the penalty for violating this list?
For OFAC SDN, civil penalties start at $356,571 per violation or twice the transaction value. Criminal penalties reach $20 million and 30 years for willful violations. Other jurisdictions have comparable regimes.
How do I screen against this list?
Use the sanctionsai.dev API: GET /sanctions?name=...&wallet=...&country=... — returns matches with confidence scores in under 100ms.