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Denied Party Screening

Check a buyer, consignee or supplier against 13 US government lists in one search — OFAC SDN, the BIS Entity List, the Denied Persons List and more. Catches typos and other spellings. Free, no signup.

How well it matches — measured, not claimed

0.6%
missed, on 1,340 altered versions of 500 listed names — typos, Co., Ltd. ↔ Company Limited, “LAST, First” ↔ “First LAST”, middle names left out, other spellings.
4.0%
of 1,000 company names that are not on the lists (US listed companies and companies in China, Hong Kong, Russia, the UAE and Türkiye) raised a possible match to review.
34%
missed, on 194 second spellings the government itself lists (a.k.a.) — each hidden from the search, then searched. A spelling that is not on the lists can be missed: search every name and spelling the party uses.

Measured 2026-10-03 on names the matcher had never been tuned on. A result is shown when names are at least 74% similar.

The 13 lists

  • SDNSpecially Designated Nationals — Treasury (OFAC)
  • ELEntity List — Commerce (BIS)
  • DPLDenied Persons List — Commerce (BIS)
  • DTCITAR Debarred — State
  • SSISectoral Sanctions Identifications — Treasury
  • UVLUnverified List — Commerce (BIS)
  • ISNNonproliferation Sanctions — State
  • MEUMilitary End User List — Commerce (BIS)
  • CMICNon-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex — Treasury
  • NS-MBSNon-SDN Menu-Based Sanctions — Treasury
  • FSEForeign Sanctions Evaders — Treasury
  • PLCPalestinian Legislative Council — Treasury
  • CAPCorrespondent Account or Payable-Through Account Sanctions — Treasury

Source: the US Consolidated Screening List published by the International Trade Administration (trade.gov), fetched every six hours.

Questions

What is denied party screening?

Checking the people and companies in a deal — buyer, consignee, end user, agent — against government lists of parties you may not deal with, or may deal with only under a licence. In the US the main lists are OFAC’s SDN list and the Commerce Department’s Entity List and Denied Persons List.

Which lists does this search?

The US Consolidated Screening List (CSL), which the International Trade Administration publishes as one file: 13 lists from the Departments of Commerce, State and the Treasury, including OFAC SDN. We fetch it from trade.gov every six hours and show the fetch time on every result.

What should I do with a possible match?

Compare the details — address, country, other names — with the government listing linked on the result. A similar name alone is not a match. If it is the same party, stop and get advice before you ship, pay or sign: trade.gov says that if a party appears to match, “additional due diligence should be conducted before proceeding”.

Does it catch misspellings and other forms of a name?

Yes. Names are compared after removing punctuation and company forms (Co., Ltd., LLC, OOO …), one-letter typos count as close, and common spellings of the same name (Mohammed / Muhammad) meet. Tested on 1,340 variants of 500 listed names: 0.6% missed. On 1,000 company names not on the lists, 4.0% raised a possible match. Spellings from other alphabets are harder: of 194 second spellings the government lists, hidden and then searched, 34% were not found through the party’s other names — so search every name and spelling the party uses.

Does it cover companies owned by a listed party?

No. The lists name the listed parties themselves; they do not list every company those parties own. Treasury’s OFAC 50 percent rule, and the Commerce “Affiliates Rule” scheduled to apply again from November 10, 2026 unless extended, can reach companies 50% or more owned by listed parties — check the ownership of your counterparty separately.

Is this legal advice or a compliance programme?

No. It is a search tool. It does not decide whether you need a licence and it is not a substitute for your own compliance process or for advice from an export-control lawyer.

More on the rules: Denied party screening — a guide for exporters.