Treasury removes more than 80 people and companies from sanctions list in review
Key Takeaways
- •Treasury said the latest deletions were made after interagency review to ensure they would not harm foreign policy or national security interests.
- •The removals included 36 deceased individuals, 33 Iraq-related entities, seven outdated Colombia narcotics listings, and eight disrupted narcotics kingpins.
- •OFAC updated 22 listings with missing identifiers such as birth information or other screening details.
- •Treasury said it resolved 18 duplicate entry sets through Monday’s removals.
- •The department has also opened an online portal for sanctioned parties to request removal from the list.
The Treasury Department removed another 84 people and companies from its sanctions lists on Monday as part of an effort to streamline sanctions programs and make it easier for banks to pursue what it considers the most serious terrorist financing schemes.
Secretary Scott Bessent launched a review in May of the department’s sanctions programs and lists to remove outdated entries and ease compliance burdens for financial institutions. He later said 76 people and firms had been removed from the more than 17,000 sanctions lists.
A Treasury official said the goal is “to ensure Treasury sanctions remain efficient, sharp, and focused, and to remove bloat left over from previous administrations,” adding that more than 3,000 names were designated in 2024, compared with only 880 in 2017. The review signals a push to keep the lists current as sanctions programs grow larger and more complex, especially for banks that must screen customers and transactions against them.
“Sanctions are not intended to be a forever tool,” the official said.
Bessent has repeatedly emphasized the Trump administration’s willingness to impose sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies — Rosneft and Lukoil. The Biden administration had been hesitant to take such action because of concerns that it could further push up oil prices after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The second round of removals from the Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List on Monday included 36 people who have died, along with associated listings; 33 Iraq-related entities first designated in 1991 or 1992; seven defunct or outdated narcotics listings related to Colombia; and eight disrupted narcotics kingpins.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also updated the listings for 22 people and entities to add or clarify missing key identifiers. Those updates matter because older entries can be harder for compliance teams to match, particularly when records lack details now routinely used in screening, such as place and date of birth, unique identification numbers, nationality or gender.
The department said each removal was made after review by other federal agencies to ensure it would not affect the administration’s foreign policy or national security interests, and that names could be reinstated if needed.
The review has so far focused on older sanctions entries, which can sometimes lack identifying information now routinely included in newer sanctions, such as place and date of birth, unique identification numbers, nationality or gender. Treasury said adding that information should make compliance screening easier for financial institutions.
OFAC has also identified a small number of duplicate entries on its sanctions lists, the department said, adding that 18 of those sets were resolved with Monday’s removals.
In an internal document obtained by Reuters, Treasury said it is reviewing outdated or hard-to-screen targets “to decrease the compliance burden on financial institutions and improve national security outcomes.” The department added that the impact of sanctions should be “measured in terms of effect, impact, and national security benefit, not based on the number of names we put on a list.”
Last month, Treasury launched a new online portal allowing sanctioned people or companies to request removal from the list, another sign that the department is trying to make the process more structured as it pares back entries that no longer serve an active enforcement purpose.
Reuters contributed to this report.