Support:SDN

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Who is Required to do SDN Lookups?

All U.S. persons must comply with OFAC regulations, including all U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens regardless of where they are located, all persons and entities within the United States, all U.S. incorporated entities and their foreign branches. In the cases of certain programs, such as those regarding Cuba and North Korea, all foreign subsidiaries owned or controlled by U.S. companies also must comply. Certain programs also require foreign persons in possession of U.S. origin goods to comply.

How much are the fines for violating these regulations?

The fines for violations can be substantial. Depending on the program, criminal penalties can include fines ranging from $50,000 to $10,000,000 and imprisonment ranging from 10 to 30 years for willful violations. Depending on the program, civil penalties range from $11,000 to $1,000,000 for each violation.

Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA)

As defined in the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 BSA 31 USC 5312(a)(2), the term “financial institution” includes the following:

• An insured bank (as defined in section 3(h) of the FDI Act (12 USC 1813(h))).
• A commercial bank or trust company.
• A private banker.
• An agency or branch of a foreign bank in the United States.
• Any credit union.
• A thrift institution.
• A broker or dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 USC 78a et seq.).
• A broker or dealer in securities or commodities.
• An investment banker or investment company.
• A currency exchange.
• An issuer, redeemer, or cashier of traveler’s checks, checks, money orders, or similar instruments.
• An operator of a credit card system.
• An insurance company.
• A dealer in precious metals, stones, or jewels.
• A pawnbroker.
• A loan or finance company.
• A travel agency.
• A licensed sender of money or any other person who engages as a business in the transmission of funds, including any person who engages as a business in an informal money transfer system or any network of people who engage as a business in facilitating the transfer of money domestically or internationally outside of the conventional financial institutions system.
• A telegraph company.
• A business engaged in vehicle sales, including automobile, airplane, and boat sales.
• Persons involved in real estate closings and settlements.
• The United States Postal Service.
• An agency of the United States government or of a state or local government carrying out a duty or power of a business described in this paragraph.
• A casino, gambling casino, or gaming establishment with an annual gaming revenue of more than $1,000,000 that —
  • Is licensed as a casino, gambling casino, or gaming establishment under the laws of any state or any political subdivision of any state; or
  • Is an Indian gaming operation conducted under or pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act other than an operation that is limited to class I gaming (as defined in section 4 (6) of such act).
• Any business or agency which engages in any activity which the Secretary of the Treasury determines, by regulation, to be an activity that is similar to, related to, or a substitute for any activity in which any business described in this paragraph is authorized to engage.
• Any other business designated by the Secretary whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters.
• Any futures commission merchant, commodity trading advisor, or commodity pool operator registered, or required to register, under the Commodity Exchange Act (7 USC 1, et seq.).

How do I determine if I have a valid OFAC match?

According to the official OFAC Sanctions Compliance FAQ website (4/12/2018):

Please take the following “due diligence” steps in determining a valid OFAC match.

If you are calling about an account, a wire transfer, or other “live” transaction:

Step 1

Is the “hit” or “match” against OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, one of its other sanctions lists, or targeted countries, or is it “hitting” for some other reason (i.e., “Control List” or “PEP,” “CIA,” “Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories,” “Canadian Consolidated List (OSFI),” “World Bank Debarred Parties,” “Blocked Officials File,” or “government official of a designated country”), or can you not tell what the “hit” is?

• If it’s hitting against OFAC’s SDN list, one of its other sanctions lists, or targeted countries, continue to 2 below.
• If it’s hitting for some other reason, you should contact the “keeper” of whichever other list the match is hitting against. For questions about:
• The Denied Persons List and the Entities List, please contact the Bureau of Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce at 202-482-4811.
• The FBI’s Most Wanted List or any other FBI-issued watch list, please contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation (http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm).
• The Debarred Parties list, please contact the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls at the U.S. Department of State, 202-663-1282.
• The Bank Secrecy Act and the USA PATRIOT Act, please contact the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), 1-800-949-2732.
• If you are unsure whom to contact, please contact your screening software provider which told you there was a “hit.”
• If you can’t tell what the “hit” is, you should contact your screening software provider which told you there was a “hit.”

Step 2

Now that you’ve established that the hit is against one of OFAC’s sanctions lists or targeted countries, you must evaluate the quality of the hit. Compare the name in your transactions with the name on the sanctions list. Is the name in your transaction an individual while the name on the sanctions list is a vessel, organization or company (or vice-versa)?

• If yes, you do not have a valid match.*
• If no, please continue to 3 below.

Step 3

How much of the listed entry’s name is matching against the name in your transaction? Is just one of two or more names matching (i.e., just the last name)?

• If yes, you do not have a valid match.*
• If no, please continue to 4 below.

Step 4

Compare the complete sanctions list entry with all of the information you have on the matching name in your transaction. An entry often will have, for example, a full name, address, nationality, passport, tax ID or cedula number, place of birth, date of birth, former names and aliases. Are you missing a lot of this information for the name in your transaction?

• If yes, go back and get more information and then compare your complete information against the entry.
• If no, please continue to 5 below.

Step 5

Are there a number of similarities or exact matches?

• If yes, please call the hotline at 1-800-540-6322.
• If no, you do not have a valid match.*

Can software do this for me?

Mostly no. Due to the law outlined above, we can only legally do Steps 1-3 for you. Step 4 requires that you get additional information (such as nationality, passport, tax ID or cedula number, place of birth, date of birth, former names and aliases) from the customer every single time to be 100% compliant.