Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. For several reasons ranging from supporting terrorism to narcotics, the U.S. Department of Treasury has placed restrictions upon numerous entities. Doing business with any entity on an OFAC watch list is a violation of U.S. export regulations, and punishable with civil and criminal penalties and monetary fines. In 2019, OFAC fines exceeded $1.3 billion.

Making sure you are not doing business with a sanctioned entity—a process that includes screening and OFAC sanctions list searches—is essential to help ensure your organization is complying with international trade regulations, and to help protect it from fines, penalties, and the negative media coverage that often follows.

OFAC sanction list search (also referred to as OFAC screening, OFAC checking, OFAC search, and OFAC scrubbing) is the process of identifying whether or not any entity or party you are engaged in a financial transaction with can be found on watch lists maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a division of U.S. Department of the Treasury. This helps organizations ensure they do not do business with a sanctioned entity, individual, or business.

OFAC sanctions list searches can also extend to identifying sanctions and embargoes placed on nations and geographic and political jurisdictions, further allowing organizations to be confident they are not engaging in transactions with parties facing trade restrictions.

Descartes Visual Compliance solutions are affordable and modular, giving organizations the option to add solutions they need to get compliant right now, and the ability to add complementary solutions to bolster compliance should needs ever change.

Check out our Buyer’s Guide, which brings together everything you need to know about in order to start to transform your sanctions compliance program.

Contact us today to learn more about how one or more of our screening solutions can decrease reputational risk, increase productivity, and save any number of staff hours spent on screening for denied parties manually. Or request a quote, and get started today.

Descartes Visual Compliance screening solutions check for individuals and companies that are found on U.S. and international government watch lists, as well as countries facing sanctions or under embargo. Options include:

Simply fill out our contact form or give us a call at 877-328-7866. We will spend a few minutes getting to know about more about your organization and the export compliance challenges you face. From there, we will recommend a solution to help meet those challenges head on—or even schedule a demo so you can see Visual Compliance in action.

Also check out these 6 key features to help you evaluate and select the best denied party screening solution for your business.

This can vary from organization to organization. Some may choose to screen potential customers or vendors at first contact. Some screen again when orders or finances change hands, and repeat this process with each order up until the time an order is shipped. Other organizations have an automated rescreening system in place instead of rescreening manually. Visitors may be screened when they sign up for a tour, and again when they arrive.

What is really important about when screening takes place is that it should fit the regulatory goals or risk objectives, of the organization—ensuring that finances, technology, information, or goods are not transferred in violation of regulations.

Yes. Every transaction facilitated in U.S. Dollars is processed through the U.S., and is therefore subject to OFAC regulations. Banks processing the transaction have an obligation to freeze funds from being transferred to sanctioned parties or face penalties themselves. To avoid this possibility, and a potential OFAC violation, screening is recommended.

International financial agencies also have their own lists, so screening can help avoid fines and other penalties from global regulatory and enforcement bodies.

Generally speaking, screening should be performed for every export or financial transaction, domestic and foreign. Ideally, screening should include every party involved in the transaction, including the final end user, and the chain of individuals and businesses in-between.

Screening should also be take place for any type of contact, including visitors, employees, business associates, re-sellers, etc.—though the lists screened may vary for each of these purposes. Countries where exports are destined should also be screened to ensure they are not currently facing sanctions or embargoes.

Yes. A number of companies have been fined for knowingly and unknowingly violating trade, export and financial compliance regulations. In 2018, 30 individuals and businesses were convicted; and $1,101,431,225 in fines, $9,642,496 in forfeitures, and 506 months of imprisonment were handed down by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) alone. A list of recent OFAC actions can be found here.