United States of America

5. Does the US maintain a list of sanctioned individuals and entities?

Yes, OFAC maintains a number of lists (subject to revision), and certain individuals and entities may appear on more than one list. These lists currently include:

• The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN”) List: details individuals and entities owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. The SDN List also identifies individuals, groups, and entities designated as terrorists, narcotics traffickers, and others under various sanctions programs.
• Sectoral Sanctions Identification (“SSI”) List: details individuals and entities in sectors of the Russian economy that should not be dealt with under certain circumstances.
• Foreign Sanctions Evaders (“FSE”) List: details foreign individuals and entities who have been deemed to have violated, attempted to violate, conspired to violate, or caused a violation of the US sanctions regimes with respect to Syria or Iran. The FSE List also includes foreign persons who have facilitated deceptive transactions for or on behalf of persons subject to US sanctions.
• Non-SDN Palestinian Legislative Council (“NS-PLC”) List: details individuals who are elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, which is deemed to be supported by Hamas and other foreign terrorist organizations, and prevents US financial institutions from transacting with them (subject to some authorizations).
• Non-SDN Iranian Sanctions Act (“NS-ISA”) List: details individuals and entities who have contributed certain investments to Iran’s energy sector or who have engaged in certain activities relating to Iran’s refined petroleum sector and prevents US financial institutions from transacting with them.
• The List of Foreign Financial Institutions Subject to Correspondent Account or Payable-Through Account Sanctions (“CAPTA List”): details foreign financial institutions (subject to the specific prohibition or restriction described) pursuant to the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 (as amended by the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (“CAATSA”)); the North Korea Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 510; the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 (“IFCA”); the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 561; the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 566; and Executive Order 13846. This generally prevents US financial institutions from opening and maintaining correspondent and payable-through accounts for those institutions detailed on the list.

Entities on the above sanctions lists can be found and searched on OFAC’s website at https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov.

In addition to the lists maintained by OFAC, various US regulators also maintain lists of sanctioned individuals and entities. For example:

• The Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), within the US Department of Commerce, maintains: (i) the Entity List, which identifies foreign persons, businesses, research institutions, and government and private organizations subject to specific license requirements for the export, re-export, and/or transfer of specified items; (ii) the Denied Persons List, which includes individuals and entities that have been denied export privileges; and (iii) the Unverified List, which includes persons that BIS has due diligence concerns about due to the party’s bona fides (such as whether they are a legitimate company) and therefore requires certain documents to be filed before exporting to them.
• FinCEN maintains a list known as “Section 311 Special Measures,” which, pursuant to the USA Patriot Act, identifies jurisdictions and entities which are of “primary money laundering concern.”