SANCTIONS LISTS AND WATCHLISTS EXPLAINED · GUIDEUPDATED 2026-09-04
Sanctions Lists and Watchlists Explained
OFAC SDN List: 19,326 entries, and the blocked parties it does not name
The SDN List as a data file: 19,326 entries on 3 September 2026, three formats, no publication calendar, and a 50 percent rule no name search can see.
The SDN List blocks more parties than it names. Under OFAC's 50 percent rule an entity owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons, directly or indirectly, in the aggregate, is blocked as well, and it never appears in the file; a name search that returns nothing against 19,326 entries has answered only part of the question. The list itself is the register of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons kept by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury. It names individuals, companies, vessels and aircraft whose property and interests in property within US jurisdiction are blocked and with whom US persons are generally prohibited from dealing, under the sanctions statutes and executive orders implemented at 31 CFR Chapter V. There is no publication calendar. A new file appears whenever OFAC designates, amends or delists, it carries its own publication date, and it is free to download as CSV, XML and an advanced XML, with a free Sanctions List Search tool alongside. A name match is where the review starts. The discriminating work is comparing dates of birth, identification numbers and addresses.
What this workflow covers
SCOPE- 19,326 entries in the file published 3 September 2026 and downloaded 4 September: 7,518 individuals, 9,926 entities, 1,540 vessels and 342 aircraft
- Three formats: SDN.CSV (about 5.7 MB), SDN.XML (about 29 MB) and SDN_ENHANCED.XML (about 109 MB)
- Download root https://sanctionslistservice.ofac.treas.gov/api/PublicationPreview/exports/; the legacy paths at treasury.gov/ofac/downloads/ still serve the same content
- Per entry: a unique entity number, the primary name, the programme tag or tags, and a remarks field holding a.k.a. values, date and place of birth, nationality, passport and national identification numbers, addresses and 'Linked To:' statements
- Vessels add call sign, vessel type, tonnage, gross registered tonnage, flag and registered owner; the IMO number sits in the remarks and, as a structured identifier, in the advanced XML
- Structured identifiers exist only in SDN_ENHANCED.XML; the legacy CSV packs dates of birth, passport numbers and addresses into one remarks string you parse yourself
- No fixed schedule: OFAC publishes when it acts, often several times a month, and keeps an archive of changes and delta files so you can reconstruct the list for a given date
- Not on this list: the non-SDN programmes (sectoral, menu-based, correspondent-account and Chinese military-industrial listings live on the Consolidated Sanctions List) and the export-control listings kept by the Bureau of Industry and Security
- Frequent false positives: transliterated Arabic, Russian and Persian names with many valid spellings, common surnames among vessel owners and entities, entries with a thin remarks field, and namesakes with a different date of birth
- An SDN match is a blocking-level signal: stop the transaction, compare the strong identifiers, record the comparison
Key statistics
DATA- Entries on the SDN List (file published 3 September 2026)
- 19,326
- OFAC SDN.XML publication header
- Individuals / entities / vessels / aircraft
- 7,518 / 9,926 / 1,540 / 342
- Counted from OFAC SDN.CSV, 4 September 2026
- Ownership aggregation threshold
- 50% or more, directly or indirectly, in the aggregate
- OFAC Revised Guidance on Entities Owned by Blocked Persons
Compliance glossary
TERMS- SDN
- Specially Designated National: an individual, entity, vessel or aircraft named on the SDN List, whose property and interests in property within US jurisdiction are blocked and with whom US persons are generally prohibited from dealing.
- Programme tag
- The short code in an SDN entry's programme field identifying the sanctions authority under which the name was designated, such as CUBA, SDGT or RUSSIA-EO14024. One entry can carry several tags.
- Entity number (ent_num)
- The stable numeric identifier OFAC assigns to each SDN List record. It persists across publications and is the key to use when tracking whether a specific listing changed between two file versions.
- Advanced (enhanced) XML
- OFAC's structured data model, published as SDN_ENHANCED.XML, in which dates of birth, identity documents, addresses and relationships are separate typed elements rather than free text inside a remarks field.
- Delta file
- A published record of what changed between two versions of an OFAC list. Delta files let a screening programme show which designations were added, amended or removed on a given publication date.
Authoritative references
SOURCES- 01Sanctions List Service — SDN and Consolidated list files
U.S. Department of the Treasury, OFAC
- 02SDN.CSV — Specially Designated Nationals list, comma-delimited export
U.S. Department of the Treasury, OFAC
- 03Sanctions List Search Tool
U.S. Department of the Treasury, OFAC
- 04Revised Guidance on Entities Owned by Persons Whose Property and Interests in Property Are Blocked
U.S. Department of the Treasury, OFAC
- 05Archive of Changes to OFAC's Sanctions Lists
U.S. Department of the Treasury, OFAC
Frequently asked questions
Q&A- Do I have to pay OFAC for the SDN file?
- No. OFAC publishes the SDN List as free downloadable CSV and XML files and runs a free web search tool with fuzzy name matching; there is no licence fee and no registration. The money goes on the work around the file: keeping it current, matching across transliterations, reviewing candidates and storing the evidence.
- How often does the SDN List actually change?
- There is no schedule. OFAC publishes whenever it designates, amends or delists, which in practice means several times a month and sometimes several times in a week. Each published file carries its own publication date, and the archive of changes and delta files shows what moved and when.
- Are vessels and aircraft in the same SDN file, or somewhere else?
- The same file. The download of 4 September 2026 held 1,540 vessels and 342 aircraft alongside 7,518 individuals and 9,926 entities. Vessel entries carry call sign, vessel type, tonnage, flag and registered owner, with the IMO number as an identifier; aircraft entries carry tail numbers and manufacturer details in the remarks.
- We have an SDN hit. What happens next?
- Treat it as a resemblance, not a determination. Compare the discriminating identifiers in the entry's remarks, date of birth, passport or national identification number, address and nationality, with what you hold on the counterparty. If they align, the entry is a true match, the transaction is blocked or rejected under the relevant programme, and the corresponding report goes to OFAC.
- We are an EU company with no US office. Do we still screen the SDN List?
- Often, yes, even though OFAC has no direct authority over an EU company as such. Exposure arrives through a US nexus: payments cleared in US dollars through a US correspondent bank, US-origin goods or technology, US persons in the deal. Secondary sanctions reach further still. The EU Blocking Statute, where it applies, is a legal question rather than a screening one.
- Which SDN file should we ingest, the CSV or the XML?
- SDN.CSV, SDN.XML and SDN_ENHANCED.XML are all served from https://sanctionslistservice.ofac.treas.gov/api/PublicationPreview/exports/ with no authentication. Take the advanced XML if you want dates of birth and identification numbers as structured fields. The legacy CSV gives you a single remarks string per entry and leaves the parsing to you.
- Is the Consolidated Sanctions List part of the SDN List?
- No, and the difference is the legal effect. The SDN List blocks property and prohibits dealings; the Consolidated Sanctions List gathers OFAC's non-SDN programmes, where the restrictions are narrower: sectoral limits, menu-based measures, correspondent-account conditions, securities restrictions. A non-SDN listing is a real restriction but not a block, and a programme that screens only the SDN file leaves that population unchecked.
- How do we show an auditor what the SDN List said on the day we screened?
- Keep the file version with the case. Every published file carries its own publication date, and OFAC's archive of changes and delta files lets you reconstruct the list as it stood on a given date. In ScreenVeritAI the SDN List is one of the main jurisdictions on the coverage register, screened in every check, and a Quick Check stores the result as a point-in-time evidence PDF that we do not recalculate when the list changes.
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