Search every US sanctions list at once

Short answer: there is no single US sanctions list. Several agencies publish their own lists, each with a different legal effect:

• Treasury (OFAC): the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List and the Non-SDN Consolidated Sanctions List, including sectoral sanctions.
• Commerce (BIS): the Entity List, Denied Persons List, Unverified List and Military End-User List for export controls.
• State Department: Foreign Terrorist Organizations, nonproliferation sanctions, CAATSA Section 231, the Cuba Restricted List and AECA debarments.
• Defense: the Section 1260H list of Chinese military companies and the Section 1286 list of foreign academic institutions and talent programs that pose risks to DoD-funded research.
• Homeland Security: the UFLPA Entity List on forced labor.

The list decides the duty: SDN means blocking, Entity List means a license requirement.

Deep dives: the OFAC sanctions lists and the SDN List.

Start with the SDN List: an entry is more than a name. Depending on what OFAC knows about the target, it can include:

• Names: the primary name plus aliases (a.k.a.) and former names (f.k.a.); OFAC's enhanced data adds spellings in non-Latin scripts. Overly broad aliases are marked "weak", and screening tools may exclude them as part of a risk-based approach.
• Identifiers: date and place of birth, nationality and citizenship, passport, national ID and tax numbers, business registration numbers and addresses. Some entries also list websites, email or digital currency addresses.
• Program tags: codes in square brackets, such as [RUSSIA-EO14024], [SDGT] or [CYBER2], which name the legal authority behind the listing.
• Vessel data: vessel type, flag, call sign, tonnage and IMO and MMSI numbers. Take the tanker Adrian Darya 1 from the table above: renamed from Grace 1, but still IMO 9116412.
• Links and flags: "Linked To:" references to related SDNs, and notes such as "Secondary sanctions risk: See Section 11 of Executive Order 14024". This note warns that foreign financial institutions that conduct or facilitate significant transactions involving the party risk being sanctioned themselves.

A BIS Entity List entry looks different. Besides the country and the entity with its aliases and addresses, it sets out three points under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR):

• License requirement: often "for all items subject to the EAR". Footnotes can extend it to certain foreign-made items.
• License review policy: frequently a presumption of denial.
• Federal Register citation: for each rule that added or amended the entry.

The upshot: a name match alone proves little. Use the identifiers to tell a true match from a namesake before you act – see how sanctions screening works.

In one sentence: SDN listings freeze assets under US jurisdiction; Entity listings require a license for EAR items.

An SDN listing, like Rosneft's, blocks all property and interests in property of the designated person under US jurisdiction. US persons generally may not deal with them unless OFAC has licensed the transaction or it is exempt.

The BIS Entity List, which includes Huawei, does not freeze assets. It requires a license to export, reexport or transfer items subject to the Export Administration Regulations to the listed party, usually with a presumption of denial. So it matters to manufacturers and distributors worldwide that handle US-origin goods, software or technology.

Two groups. First, US persons: US citizens and permanent residents, companies organized under US law and anyone in the United States. They must comply wherever they are.

Second, non-US companies are exposed as well:

• US dollars: payments clear through US banks and can be blocked.
• US-origin items: export controls follow them, even after reexport from another country.
• Secondary sanctions: they can target non-US companies that do significant business with sanctioned parties.

In practice, banks, payment providers, crypto businesses and exporters worldwide screen against US lists alongside their domestic ones. US sanctions travel with US persons, US dollars and US-origin goods.

Not on the SDN List, so not blocked? Not if Rosneft owns half of it. OFAC's 50 Percent Rule blocks any entity owned 50% or more by one or more blocked persons, directly or indirectly, individually or in aggregate.

Name screening is only step one: for corporate customers, check the ownership structure and screen the beneficial owners too. A clean name can hide a blocked owner.

First, the scale: as of the SDN List update of October 2, 2026, 6,346 of its 19,488 entries carried the [RUSSIA-EO14024] tag. That is more than any other program. Among them: 444 vessels and 90 aircraft.

Most Russia-related US listings rest on Executive Order 14024 of April 15, 2021, implemented in the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR part 587). Since 2022, EOs 14066, 14068 and 14071 have added import and export bans and a ban on new investment in Russia. Listings under the Ukraine-related orders of 2014 also remain in force.

Three dates stand out:

• February 25, 2022: OFAC designated President Vladimir Putin.
• October 22, 2025: OFAC designated Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia's two largest oil companies, and 34 of their Russian subsidiaries.
• September 18, 2026: the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 became law.

For five years, the Act writes the sanctions in force under EO 14024 and its follow-up orders into law, including every listing in place at enactment. Lifting them now requires a certification and report to Congress. Terminating sanctions on Russian persons also requires a peace agreement accepted by Ukraine, an end to hostilities and a congressional review period of at least 30 days.

The Act also requires tariffs of up to 500% on Russian goods and full sanctions on all Russian state-owned banks. These include Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank, which were already on the SDN List.

Export controls: BIS requires a license to export, reexport or transfer any item on the Commerce Control List to or within Russia and Belarus. The same goes for many lower-tech goods listed by tariff code. Foreign direct product rules extend this to certain foreign-made items, and applications generally face a policy of denial.

Secondary sanctions: since EO 14114 of December 22, 2023, OFAC can restrict or block foreign financial institutions (FFIs) that conduct significant transactions involving Russia's military-industrial base. That base includes every person blocked under EO 14024. The 2026 Act also directs sanctions, subject to exceptions, on FFIs that do significant business with Russia's state-owned banks.

Listings change in both directions: OFAC also removed Russia-related designations in 2026. A clean result is only as current as the list behind it, so pair list checks with ongoing monitoring.

Does it matter whether you knew? Not for civil liability. OFAC enforces sanctions on a strict-liability basis: you can face a civil penalty even if you did not know the party was sanctioned.

• Civil penalties: under IEEPA, the inflation-indexed maximum is currently $377,700 per violation or twice the transaction value, whichever is greater.
• Criminal penalties: willful violations can bring fines of up to $1 million and up to 20 years in prison.

OFAC considers an effective compliance program, including risk-based screening, a mitigating factor. Under strict liability, not knowing is no defense; screening is how you know.