OFAC screening, in plain terms
How to run a check, clear a hit and keep the record. Every regulatory statement links to the regulation, the Federal Register or OFAC’s own guidance.
OFAC screening in vendor onboarding: check before the first payment
Where an OFAC check belongs in vendor onboarding, which details to collect so a hit can be cleared, how to handle owners under the 50 percent rule, and what to file.
Sanctions checks in vendor due diligence: what to screen and what to keep
How sanctions screening fits into vendor due diligence: screening the vendor, its owners and its location, applying OFAC's 50 percent rule, and keeping records for 10 years.
How often should you re-screen customers and vendors against OFAC?
OFAC sets no fixed screening frequency. How to write a defensible re-screen schedule, which events should trigger a check, and why screening on each list change beats a calendar.
Screening a vendor master file of thousands against OFAC
How to screen an ERP vendor master of thousands of records against OFAC: use the downloadable list files, not the search tool, export the right columns, and work through candidates at volume.
What to do when an OFAC check returns a true match
An OFAC hit is a candidate until you confirm it. If it is a true match: stop, block or reject, report to OFAC within 10 business days, file the annual blocked property report, and keep the records.
Do cash deals need an OFAC check? Yes, and they are where checks get skipped
OFAC sanctions apply to every U.S. business and every kind of payment. Why cash deals still need an OFAC check, who to screen on them, and how to keep the record when no credit is pulled.
The OFAC check on a credit report: what it covers and what it misses
Many dealers run OFAC alongside the credit pull. That covers the applicant on the day of the pull. Here is who and what it leaves out, and how to close each gap with a dated record.
What is OFAC? The Office of Foreign Assets Control, in plain terms
OFAC stands for the Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the U.S. Treasury. What it does, who must comply, why liability is strict, and where its sanctions lists live.
The Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, explained
What OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list is, what blocking means, who is on it by type, how to search and download it, and why the 50 percent rule reaches companies it does not name.
OFAC sanctioned countries: why there is no single country list
People search for an OFAC country list. OFAC runs both country-wide and targeted programs, so a country name alone does not answer whether you can deal with someone. Where to look and what to screen.
OFAC license vs OFAC clearance: what each one is and which one you need
An OFAC license is an authorization from Treasury to do something sanctions would otherwise prohibit. An OFAC clearance is your own dated record that a screening found no match. Here is how to tell them apart.
How to use OFAC's Sanctions List Search, field by field
A practical walk-through of Treasury's free OFAC search tool: what each field does, what the score and the minimum name score slider mean, which lists it covers, and what it does not keep for you.
Where to download the OFAC SDN list, and which file to use
The SDN and Consolidated lists are free downloads from OFAC's Sanctions List Service. Here are the file formats, how to tell which publication you have, and how delta files and the change archive fit in.
The Denied Persons List: what it is and how to screen against it
The Denied Persons List names people and companies whose U.S. export privileges have been denied by Commerce. What a denial order prohibits, how it differs from the SDN list, and where to screen it.
The BIS Entity List explained: license requirements, not a blanket ban
The Commerce Department's Entity List names parties whose presence in a transaction can trigger an export license requirement. How it works, how it differs from OFAC's SDN list, and where the affiliates rule stands.
OFAC's non-SDN lists: SSI, FSE, CAPTA, NS-MBS, NS-CMIC and NS-PLC explained
OFAC publishes several sanctions lists outside the SDN list, each with narrower restrictions than blocking. What each one covers, how they differ from the SDN list, and why a screening program checks both.
The Clinton List (Lista Clinton): what it is and how to check it today
The Clinton List is the popular name for OFAC's narcotics designations under Executive Order 12978, signed by President Clinton in 1995. Today it lives inside the SDN list. Here is how to check a name against it.
World-Check alternatives for small US businesses that only need sanctions screening
If your duty is checking customers, vendors and staff against OFAC's lists and keeping the proof, a sanctions-only tool with published prices may fit better than an enterprise risk database. A dated comparison.
Sanctions screening software for a small business: a buyer's checklist
Ten things to check before you pay for sanctions or restricted party screening software, and the cases where OFAC's free search or the trade.gov Consolidated Screening List search is enough.
OFAC penalties and enforcement: what a small business should know
OFAC violations are generally strict liability, the IEEPA civil maximum is the greater of $377,700 or twice the transaction, and a compliance program can reduce a penalty. Where enforcement actions are published and what to do now.
How to run an OFAC check and keep the proof
Run an OFAC check in four steps: search the SDN and Consolidated lists, review any hit against the full entry, decide, and record what you checked, when and against which list.
OFAC compliance for car dealers: every party, every deal
Who to run an OFAC on at a dealership, what to do with an OFAC alert on a credit report, and what to put in the deal jacket.
OFAC in the closing file: what title underwriters expect
What an OFAC check in the closing file should show, who to screen at a closing, and what OFAC's rules say if a party to a real estate deal is blocked.
The monthly vendor OFAC scrub for accounts payable, with a CSV template
How accounts payable can screen the whole vendor file against OFAC's lists on a schedule, with a CSV layout for the results and what to do when a vendor hits.
How to clear an OFAC false positive, with a rationale template
OFAC's own method for deciding whether a hit is a false positive, the questions to answer, and a rationale template for the file.
SDN, Consolidated and the Consolidated Screening List: which lists to screen
The difference between OFAC's SDN list, OFAC's Consolidated (non-SDN) list and Trade.gov's Consolidated Screening List, and which ones a dealer, closer, AP team or exporter should screen.
The OFAC 50 percent rule with worked examples
OFAC's 50 percent rule in plain terms, OFAC's own worked examples of direct, indirect and aggregate ownership, and what to ask a business customer.
The BIS Affiliates Rule returns 10 November 2026: what to do before then
The Commerce Department's Affiliates Rule, suspended for a year, is set to come back into force on 10 November 2026. What it does, the dates from the Federal Register, and how small exporters can prepare.
Denied party screening for small exporters
What denied party screening is, which U.S. lists a small exporter should check, what each list means for a shipment, and what records to keep.
An OFAC compliance program template for a small business
A plain-language OFAC compliance program template built on the five components in OFAC's Framework, sized for a small business.
Screening with the OFAC API: a 20-line integration
How to screen names against OFAC's SDN list in code using OFAC's own list files, in under 20 lines of Node.js that also record which list version each check used.
Visual Compliance alternatives for small teams
Free and low-cost alternatives to Descartes Visual Compliance for small teams, with each option's lists and published prices as shown on its own site on 7 October 2026.