OFAC administers laws that impose economic sanctions against hostile foreign countries to further U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives. OFAC is also responsible for issuing regulations that restrict transactions by U.S. persons or entities (including banks) with certain foreign countries, their nationals, or "specially designated nationals." Violations of these laws can expose financial institutions to substantial penalties.

FDIC encourages banks to implement a compliance program that includes: a designation of a compliance officer responsible for monitoring compliance with the program; a system of internal controls and procedures for regular screening of bank transactions and accounts against the OFAC SDN list; training of employees; and independent test of compliance with the program.

Screening of transactions and accounts may be done by computer software or manually. If computerized, OFAC offers the SDN list in a delimited format file that can be imported into some software programs. There are also several record search software packages available commercially. OFAC maintains current information and FAQs on its website.

For any questions, OFAC encourages banks to contact its Compliance Hotline phone: 800-540-6322 (7:30am to 6pm weekdays Eastern Time).

OFAC Regulations by Industry

List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons