There are numerous Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) sanctions lists in the world, maintained by various international organizations, governments, and law enforcement agencies. The sanctions lists are used by governments and international organizations to identify individuals, entities, and countries involved in money laundering, terrorism financing, and other illicit activities.
Here are some of the prominent AML/CFT sanctions lists and a brief explanation of each:
United Nations (UN) Sanctions List: The UN maintains a list of individuals and entities involved in terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other illegal activities. The United Nation Security Council has the power to impose sanctions on countries, individuals and entities that threaten international peace and security. Sanctions include asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes. The UN maintains several sanctions lists, including the Consolidated United Nations Security Council Sanctions List and the Al-Qaida Sanctions List.
European Union (EU) Sanctions List: The EU maintains a consolidated list of individuals, groups, and entities that are subject to EU sanctions, including those involved in terrorism, human rights abuses, and other illegal activities. The sanctions include asset freezes, travel bans, and trade restrictions.
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Sanctions List: OFAC is a department of the United States Department of the Treasury that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions, against targeted foreign countries, individuals, groups, and entities, based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals. OFAC maintains several sanctions lists, including the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN), Foreign Sanctions Evaders List (FSE), Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List (SSI), and Non-SDN Iran Sanctions Act (NS-IA) List.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) High-Risk and Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions List: The FATF is an intergovernmental organization that sets standards and promotes effective implementation of legal, regulatory, and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and other threats to the integrity of the international financial system. The FATF maintains a list of jurisdictions that have strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT regimes.
UK Sanctions List – The United Kingdom maintains its own sanctions list, which includes individuals and entities that are subject to UK sanctions for various reasons, including human rights violations, terrorist activities, and violations of international law.
World Bank Sanctions List: The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and technical assistance to developing countries. The World Bank Sanctions List is a list of entities and individuals that have been sanctioned by the World Bank Group for fraudulent, corrupt, collusive, or coercive practices in Bank-financed projects.
Interpol Red Notice List: Interpol is an international police organization that facilitates cross-border police cooperation and coordination. The Interpol Red Notice List is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
It is good to note that there are other sanctions lists maintained by national governments, regional and international organizations, but the above lists are the main references in AML/CFT compliance. Regulated entities should accordingly screen at least those ones when doing Customer Due Diligence and choose the appropriate ones for their ongoing monitoring.
Ongoing Monitoring are important as sanction lists constantly evolve and new sanctions may be added or removed based on changing geopolitical situations and other evolving threats. This imposes regulated businesses to stay informed on it and ensure that they are not engaging in transactions with sanctioned individuals or entities and timely report suspicious cases or match to the relevant authority.
SonarPulse will effectively help you on these sanctions lists screening, may it be at onboarding stage, or subsequently, during your ongoing monitoring exercises. It will help you avoid regulatory penalties and reputational damage while also improving your overall compliance and risk management efforts. Should you require more information about SonarPulse, please click here.
