OFAC Search: How to Check a Name Against the SDN List (and What One Search Misses)

An OFAC search answers one question: does this name appear on a U.S. sanctions list today? It cannot tell you whether the hit is really your party, whether a listed person owns the company, or what the list will say next month.

Updated October 28, 2026.

What You're Searching

The Office of Foreign Assets Control publishes the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (the SDN list), plus a set of non-SDN lists collected in its Consolidated Sanctions List. U.S. persons generally can't do business with anyone on the SDN list, and dealing with a blocked party can lead to penalties even if you didn't know.

OFAC offers a free Sanctions List Search tool on its website. You enter a name, and it returns entries that match exactly or closely.

Key takeaways

  • Search the full legal name and its variants, and review close matches, not only exact ones.
  • Clear a possible match by comparing details (address, country, date of birth, identifiers) and write down why.
  • A clean company name says nothing about its owners; an entity owned 50 percent or more by blocked persons is blocked.
  • Rescreen on a schedule: monthly as a baseline, weekly for higher-risk populations, and whenever a list updates.
  • Keep the record for 10 years, which is OFAC's recordkeeping period as of March 12, 2025.

Not everything OFAC publishes is the SDN list, and the lists do not all carry the same consequences.

List Who is on it What it means for you
SDN Blocked individuals, entities, vessels and aircraft Property is blocked; U.S. persons generally may not deal with them at all
SSI (Sectoral Sanctions Identifications) Entities in targeted sectors of the Russian economy Specific transactions are prohibited (for example certain debt and equity), not all dealings
FSE (Foreign Sanctions Evaders) Parties that evaded Iran or Syria sanctions Transactions are prohibited
NS-CMIC and other non-SDN lists Chinese military-industrial complex companies, menu-based sanctions targets, correspondent-account restrictions Narrow prohibitions, often on securities or banking relationships

A hit on a non-SDN list still needs a decision and a record. It is just a different decision than a hit on the SDN list.

  1. Search the full legal name of the person or business, not a shortened version or a DBA.
  2. Run variations where they apply: names with and without an entity suffix, transliterations, and alternate spellings.
  3. Look at the close matches, not just exact ones. Sanctioned parties appear under aliases and spelling variants. A search that only accepts exact matches misses them.
  4. Record the date, the name searched and the result, whether or not anything comes back.

A record that will stand up later contains, at minimum:

  • The exact name string searched, including variants
  • The date and time, and which lists were in scope
  • Every possible match returned, with the details compared and the reason each was cleared or escalated
  • Who made the decision

Reading a Possible Match

Most hits on common names are false positives. OFAC's own guidance is to compare the details before acting:

  • How close is the name? An exact or near-exact match deserves more attention than a partial one.
  • Do the other details line up? Compare address, country, date of birth, nationality and identifiers in the SDN entry with what you know about your party.
  • If the details don't align, it's likely a false hit. Document why you cleared it.
  • If many details align, stop the transaction and contact OFAC's compliance hotline before going further.

The worst outcome is a real hit dismissed as a false positive because nobody compared the details. The second worst is a false positive that holds up a payment for weeks because nobody documented the review.

What One Search Misses

Ownership Under OFAC's 50 percent rule, an entity owned 50 percent or more, directly or indirectly, by one or more blocked persons is itself blocked, even if the entity's own name isn't on the list. A clean result on a company name says nothing about its owners.

Other lists OFAC is one source. Depending on your business, you may also need U.S. export-control lists from Commerce and State, the federal exclusion list in SAM.gov, and sanctions lists from the UN, EU and UK.

Time Lists change constantly. A vendor who was clean at onboarding can be designated later. Screening only once means you won't know. A risk-based program rescreens the whole population monthly at a minimum, higher-risk populations weekly, and everyone whenever a list you rely on is updated.

Volume A manual search works for one name. It doesn't work for a vendor master with thousands of records, or for payments going out every day.

The stakes: civil penalties under IEEPA are strict liability, inflation-adjusted every January and currently more than $375,000 per violation, or twice the value of the transaction if that is higher. OFAC's recordkeeping requirement is 10 years. A thin screening record is the difference between a penalty case and a documented, good-faith false positive.

Manual Search vs. Automated Screening

OFAC's search tool Automated screening
Lists covered OFAC lists OFAC plus other U.S. and international lists
Volume One name at a time Single, bulk file or API
Fuzzy matching Yes Yes, with match scores
Rescreening Manual, every time Scheduled against updated lists
Audit record Whatever you save Timestamped result for every check

How TIN Comply Helps

TIN Comply's Sanctions & OFAC Screening checks names against 330+ U.S. and international sanctions and watchlists with fuzzy matching, and logs every result with a timestamp. It runs one name at a time in the portal, in bulk for a full vendor file, or through the API at onboarding and before payment. It's included with every plan.

For how screening fits a broader program, see Sanctions Screening: How It Works and Who Needs It and OFAC Screening Requirements for Vendors.

Start a free trial and screen your vendor list against every list at once.

Bottom Line

An OFAC search is a good start and a weak finish. Check close matches against the details, look past the name to ownership, cover the other lists that apply to you, and rescreen as the lists change.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or compliance advice.

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