Glossary

What is the OFAC SDN List?

The US Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.

Definition

The SDN List contains individuals, entities, and vessels whose property is blocked. US persons are prohibited from transacting with anyone on the list.

Regulatory context

The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) is maintained by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Who it affects

The list includes terrorists, drug traffickers, proliferators, sanctioned nation officials, and front companies. Over 10,000 entries.

Relevance to AI agents

AI agents have the same OFAC obligations as their human operators. agentmail screens against the SDN list automatically.

agentmail coverage

agentmail indexes 947 OFAC-sanctioned crypto wallets plus 19,218 sanctioned names.

FAQ

1. How often is the SDN list updated?

OFAC updates the SDN List frequently, sometimes multiple times per day and often with no advance notice. agentmail refreshes its copy daily from the official US Treasury SDN.csv feed plus the vile/ofac-sdn-list crypto registry, so screening always runs against the most current designations rather than a stale snapshot.

2. Does the SDN list include crypto wallets?

Yes. Since 2018 OFAC has published cryptocurrency wallet addresses as blocked property directly on the SDN List, and the count keeps growing. agentmail indexes 947 SDN-listed addresses across Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Tron, matching every counterparty wallet your agent is about to pay before the transaction is signed.

3. What happens if my agent pays an SDN?

Paying a Specially Designated National is a strict-liability violation, meaning intent is irrelevant. Civil penalties reach $330,944 per transaction or twice the transaction value, whichever is greater. The fix is a single pre-payment screening call so your agent halts before it ever sends funds to a blocked party.

Related glossary terms

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