Sanctions Resources

Reference material for people who work with sanctions: who the authorities are, and what the terms mean.

The north front of the United States Treasury building in Washington

Sanctions authorities directory

The main bodies that make, apply and enforce sanctions and export controls.

Jurisdiction	Authority	Responsibility
United States	Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Department of the Treasury	Administers and enforces economic sanctions; maintains the SDN List; issues licences.
United States	Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Department of Commerce	Administers export controls under the Export Administration Regulations; maintains the Entity List.
United Kingdom	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)	Leads on sanctions policy and makes designations; maintains the UK Sanctions List.
United Kingdom	Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), HM Treasury	Implements financial sanctions, issues licences and takes civil enforcement action.
United Kingdom	Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI), Department for Business and Trade	Civil enforcement of trade sanctions.
European Union	Council of the European Union	Adopts restrictive measures by decision and regulation.
European Union	National competent authorities of the member states	Apply and enforce EU sanctions and grant authorisations.
United Nations	Security Council and its sanctions committees	Impose sanctions binding on all member states and maintain the UN lists.
United Arab Emirates	Executive Office for Control and Non-Proliferation	Coordinates implementation of targeted financial sanctions.
Switzerland	State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)	Applies sanctions under the Embargo Act.
Canada	Global Affairs Canada	Administers Canadian sanctions legislation and issues permits.
Australia	Australian Sanctions Office, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Administers UN and autonomous sanctions and issues permits.
Singapore	Monetary Authority of Singapore	Issues regulations giving effect to sanctions for financial institutions.
Japan	Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry	Apply asset freezes and trade measures under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act.

Sanctions glossary

AIS: Automatic Identification System: the transponder system that broadcasts a vessel's identity and position.
Asset freeze: A prohibition on dealing with the funds or economic resources of a designated person, and on making them available to that person.
Blocking statute: A law that forbids compliance with certain foreign sanctions within a jurisdiction.
Circumvention: Arranging a transaction so as to avoid the effect of a sanction while achieving the prohibited result.
Designation: The act of naming a person, entity or vessel as a target of sanctions.
Dual-use goods: Goods, software and technology that have both civil and military applications.
ECCN: Export Control Classification Number: the code that identifies an item on the US Commerce Control List.
Entity List: A list kept by BIS of parties to whom exports of controlled items require a licence.
50 Percent Rule: OFAC's rule that an entity owned 50 percent or more, in aggregate, by blocked persons is itself treated as blocked.
General licence: A licence that authorises a class of activity for anyone who meets its terms, without an application.
Ownership and control: The tests used to decide whether an unlisted company is caught because of its link to a designated person.
Price cap: A measure allowing services for seaborne oil of a given origin only where it is sold at or below a set price.
SDN List: OFAC's list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons.
Secondary sanctions: Measures that expose non-US persons to penalties for dealings that have no US connection.
Shadow fleet: Vessels that carry sanctioned cargoes using opaque ownership and deceptive practices.
Ship-to-ship transfer: The transfer of cargo between vessels at sea, sometimes used to disguise its origin.
Specific licence: A licence granted to a named applicant for a particular transaction or activity.
Transshipment: Moving goods through an intermediate country or port on the way to their final destination.

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