OFAC Sanctions Screening for Developers: How to Check Addresses and Names

When developing KYC/AML compliance features into your fintech apps, one critical component is ensuring that transactions aren’t linked to the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The OFAC SDN list contains individuals or entities designated for blocking due to their involvement in terrorism, proliferation activities, and other prohibited activities.

Problem: Implementing OFAC Sanctions Checks

To integrate these checks efficiently, developers often need a way to quickly verify whether an address or name is on the SDN list. This process can be time-consuming and requires access to a comprehensive dataset like OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) entries.

Python Code Example for Checking Names Against OFAC List

Here’s a simple Python script that uses an endpoint provided by VeriLexData, which offers sanctions screening services:


python
import requests

def check_ofac_sanctions(name):
    url = "https://api.verilexdata.com/api/v1/sanctions/stats"

    # Prepare the data payload for the request
    data = {
        "name": name
    }

    response = requests.post(url, json=data)

    if response.status_code == 200:
        result = response.json

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OFAC Sanctions Screening for Developers: How to Check Addresses and Names