The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, and those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Why OFAC Compliance is Mandatory
For any payment processor or acquiring bank operating globally or touching the U.S. financial system, checking merchants against the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list is non-negotiable. Processing a payment for an OFAC-sanctioned entity can result in civil penalties of millions of dollars per violation, as well as criminal charges.
The Challenge of Global Screening
Screening against OFAC manually is virtually impossible, especially when factoring in updates, aliases, and complex ownership structures. Furthermore, institutions must screen against multiple international lists simultaneously (UN, HMT, EU, Interpol) to remain fully compliant.
Seamless Global Screening with Onlayer
Onlayer screens merchants and beneficial owners in real time against OFAC, UN, HMT, EU, and Interpol watchlists. By plugging directly into leading data providers like Dow Jones, LexisNexis, and World-Check, Onlayer adapts your screening parameters dynamically to meet regional AML expectations across 150+ countries—driving a >95% reduction in false positives.
