Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury
OFAC SDN List Explained with Live Version Data
The OFAC SDN list is the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List kept by the U.S. Treasury. It names people, companies, vessels and aircraft whose property is blocked. U.S. persons generally may not deal with them. This page shows the live state of the list.
Current version in OfacScanner
LoadedEntries in the current version
19,416
- Published
- Oct 9, 2026
- Checked
- Oct 11, 2026, 15:47 UTC
- Programs
- 72
- Screened on
- Every plan
What is the OFAC SDN list
The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, almost always shortened to the SDN list, is published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. OFAC is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and administers U.S. economic and trade sanctions. When OFAC designates a person or company, the name goes on this list.
A designation means that all property and interests in property of that party that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of a U.S. person, are blocked. Blocked means frozen in place. The money or goods cannot be paid out, moved, sold or released without permission from OFAC, usually in the form of a license.
Designations come from many sanctions programs. Some target countries and governments, others target terrorism, narcotics trafficking, cyber crime, weapons proliferation, human rights abuse or corruption. Each entry carries one or more program tags that tell you why the party is listed.
Current OFAC SDN list data in OfacScanner
Live figures from the version we screen against today. Each new official file shows up here with the entries it added and removed.
Official source
- Issuing authority
- Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury
- List
- OFAC Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List
- Official page
- sanctionslist.ofac.treas.gov/
- Data file we read
- sanctionslistservice.ofac.treas.gov/api/PublicationPreview/exports/SDN.XML (XML)
- Update checks
- Checked against the official source every 30 minutes
- Last check
- Oct 11, 2026, 16:47 UTC
Entries by type
| Type | Active entries |
|---|---|
| Organizations | 10,018 |
| Individuals | 7,497 |
| Vessels | 1,559 |
| Aircraft | 342 |
Recent versions and changes
| Published | Checked | Entries | Added | Removed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 11, 2026, 15:47 UTC | 19,416 | First version stored, baseline for later changes | |
A new row appears each time the official file changes. Monitoring re-screens your saved records against every added entry.
Largest sanctions programs on this list
| Program | Active entries |
|---|---|
| RUSSIA-EO14024 | 6,346 |
| SDGT | 3,347 |
| IFSR | 1,620 |
| SDNTK | 1,363 |
| NPWMD | 1,205 |
| IRAN-EO13902 | 1,034 |
| ILLICIT-DRUGS-EO14059 | 772 |
| GLOMAG | 739 |
| IRAN | 679 |
| UKRAINE-EO13662 | 536 |
| IRAN-EO13846 | 509 |
| TCO | 430 |
One entry can sit under several programs, so the program counts add up to more than the entry total.
What an SDN entry contains
Every entry starts with a primary name and an entity type. The rest depends on what OFAC knows about the party. Some entries are short, with a name and a program. Others include many aliases, several addresses and long lists of identity documents.
This detail is what lets you tell a real match from a namesake. A common name on its own proves little. A matching date of birth, nationality or passport number proves a lot.
- Primary name and aliases, marked as strong or weak AKAs
- Entity type such as individual, entity, vessel or aircraft
- Program tags that show the sanctions program behind the listing
- Addresses, cities and countries linked to the party
- Date and place of birth and nationality for individuals
- Passport, national ID, tax and registration numbers
- Vessel details such as IMO number, call sign and flag
- Digital currency addresses where OFAC has published them
Owned companies can be blocked without being named
Under the OFAC 50 percent rule, an entity owned 50 percent or more, directly or indirectly, individually or in aggregate, by one or more blocked persons is itself blocked. That company may never appear on the SDN list. A name search alone will not find it, so ownership checks belong in your program next to list screening. OfacScanner screens names and does not provide ownership data.
How to search the SDN list with OfacScanner
The same steps work for one name or for a full customer file.
-
01
Enter the party
Type the name of the person, company, vessel or aircraft. Add a country, date of birth or ID number when you have one.
-
02
Choose the entity type
Pick individual, organization, vessel or any. A person is not scored high against a ship, which cuts noise.
-
03
Review the candidates
Each candidate shows a 0 to 100 score, the alias that matched, the program tags and the SDN version date.
-
04
Record your decision
Clear a false positive with a reason or escalate a likely match. The evidence record keeps the list version, time, user and score breakdown.
How often the SDN list changes
OFAC updates the SDN list whenever it adds, removes or changes a designation. In practice that happens several times a month, and sometimes several times in one week. Updates can be small, such as a corrected address, or large, such as a new round of designations under one program.
OfacScanner checks the official OFAC files every 30 minutes. When the file changes, the new version is loaded, compared with the previous one and used for every new check. The table above shows the recent versions with what was added and removed. If you use ongoing sanctions monitoring, your saved records are screened again against each new version and you get an alert when something new matches.
You can also search names one by one on our SDN list search page, which explains matching in more depth.
Good habits when screening against the SDN list
-
Screen before value moves
Check at onboarding and before the first payment, shipment or account opening.
-
Search aliases too
Many hits come through an AKA, not the primary name.
-
Use extra data
Date of birth, country and ID numbers separate namesakes from real matches.
-
Keep the list version
Proof of which version you checked matters as much as the result.
-
Re-screen after updates
A customer who was clear last month can be listed today.
-
Write down why you cleared a hit
A short reason helps the next reviewer and your auditor.
OFAC SDN list questions
Another question? Write to [email protected].
Where does OFAC publish the SDN list?
Who has to comply with the SDN list?
Is the SDN list the same as the consolidated list?
Can a name be removed from the SDN list?
What should I do if a customer matches an SDN entry?
Keep exploring
Screen your first name in seconds
Type a person or company name, see the risk rating and top candidates from the current OFAC list, and keep the evidence when you sign up.
Results support your compliance decisions, and the final decision stays with your team. OfacScanner is not affiliated with OFAC or the U.S. Department of the Treasury.