OFAC Compliance isn't optional. Neither is getting it right.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control enforces some of the most serious economic sanctions in the world. One missed hit on the SDN list can mean civil penalties in the millions, criminal prosecution, and reputational damage that takes years to recover from. Sentinel™ makes sure that doesn't happen.
The regulator your compliance team cannot ignore.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries, regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, and those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
OFAC acts under presidential wartime and national emergency powers, as well as authority granted by specific legislation, to impose controls on transactions and freeze foreign assets under U.S. jurisdiction.
Virtually every financial institution, money services business, insurance company, law firm, and regulated entity in the United States is subject to OFAC regulations. The obligation to screen applies regardless of company size.
- ✓Applies to all U.S. persons and entities, including foreign branches
- ✓Strict liability standard, intent is not required for a violation
- ✓Civil and criminal penalties apply
- ✓No minimum transaction size threshold
Know which lists your organization must screen against.
OFAC maintains several distinct sanctions lists. Screening against all of them is not optional, missing any one is a compliance failure.
Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List
The most widely known OFAC list. Contains individuals, entities, and vessels whose assets are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from doing business with. Updated frequently, sometimes multiple times per week.
Consolidated Sanctions List
A comprehensive list that combines the SDN list with several other non-SDN sanctions lists, including the Foreign Sanctions Evaders List, the Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List, and others.
Sectoral Sanctions Identifications (SSI) List
Identifies persons operating in sectors of the Russian economy. Transactions in certain categories with these parties are prohibited, even if the entity itself is not fully blocked.
Foreign Sanctions Evaders (FSE) List
Identifies foreign individuals and entities that have violated U.S. sanctions or helped others do so. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from transacting with those on this list.
Non-SDN Palestinian Legislative Council (NS-PLC) List
Contains individuals associated with the Palestinian Legislative Council who were elected on the HAMAS slate. Specific prohibitions apply to this list.
Non-SDN Menu-Based Sanctions (NS-MBS) List
Identifies persons subject to menu-based sanctions under various executive orders. Specific sanctions measures are available against listed parties.
The consequences of getting it wrong are severe.
OFAC violations carry some of the harshest penalties in financial regulation. And unlike most regulatory frameworks, OFAC operates on strict liability, meaning you can be penalized even if you didn't know a violation was occurring.
Strict Liability Standard
OFAC does not require intent to penalize. If a prohibited transaction occurred, the violation is actionable regardless of whether you knew. This makes proactive screening non-negotiable.
Civil Penalties Up to $1 Million Per Violation
Civil monetary penalties can reach the greater of $1,000,000 or twice the value of the underlying transaction, per violation. Enforcement actions routinely result in multi-million dollar settlements.
Criminal Prosecution
Willful violations can result in criminal fines up to $1 million per violation and up to 20 years imprisonment. Corporate officers and directors can be held personally liable.
Extraterritorial Reach
OFAC regulations apply to U.S. persons worldwide and to transactions that touch the U.S. financial system, including foreign entities that process USD. Operating abroad does not create an exemption.
Reputational Damage
OFAC enforcement actions are published publicly. Being named in an enforcement action signals to regulators, correspondent banks, and customers that your compliance program failed.
Lists Change Daily
OFAC updates its lists constantly, sometimes multiple times per day. A customer who passed screening last month may be on the SDN list today. Static, one-time checks are not compliant.
Everything your compliance team needs for OFAC screening.
Sentinel™ and Sentinel™ OFAC Guard give your organization the tools to screen accurately, respond to list changes automatically, and document every decision for regulators.
Daily OFAC List Updates
Sentinel™ pulls the latest SDN, Consolidated, SSI, and all related lists daily, so your screening is always based on current data, not yesterday's.
Continuous Customer Monitoring
Cleared customers are continuously re-screened. The moment a previously clear entity appears on the SDN list, your team is alerted instantly, not at your next quarterly review.
Batch and Real-Time Screening
Screen individual names in real time or upload thousands of records at once. Either way, results come back fast and include a confidence score to reduce false positives.
Tamper-Proof Audit Trail
Every screening action, result, and compliance decision is automatically logged in a non-editable audit trail. When OFAC comes knocking, you have documentation ready.
Workflow and Disposition Management
Review flagged results, record whether a match is a true hit or false positive, and document the reasoning. All in one place, all tied to the audit log.
Fuzzy Name Matching
SDN entries often contain transliterations, aliases, and spelling variations. Sentinel™'s fuzzy matching catches them all, without generating the false positives that slow your team down.
OFAC compliance that keeps pace with a list that never stops changing.
Truth Technologies has been helping regulated organizations stay OFAC compliant since 1996. Sentinel™ screens against every major OFAC list, updates daily, and alerts your team the moment anything changes.