AML Scenario Gap Finder

Sectoral sanctions

Which control catches dealings in new debt or equity of an entity under sectoral sanctions, where an outright block does not apply?

A scenario that places here

example

"Sectoral sanctions: new debt or equity dealings with listed entities"

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Channels it applies to

3 of the 20 in the dictionary

WIN COR SEC

International wires, correspondent accounts and securities brokerage: one sector each on the coverage chart, hatched where no scenario reaches it.

Obligations

4 regimes
RegimeObligation
Bank Secrecy Act and its regulations (31 CFR Chapter X)BSA BSA-AML-14 OFAC Sanctions Screening
FATF 40 RecommendationsFATF R.7 Targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act (Australia)AUSTRAC AMLCTF-SANCTIONS Sanctions Screening
OFAC framework for sanctions compliance commitmentsOFAC OFAC-SCP-3.4 Sectoral Sanctions Identification and Controls

The obligations, quoted

BSA BSA-AML-14 OFAC Sanctions Screening

Institutions shall screen customers, beneficial owners, counterparties and transactions against OFAC and other applicable sanctions lists in real time.

What an examiner asks to see: Screening engine config; List update cadence; Blocked/rejected transaction reports; OFAC annual reports
Where programmes usually fall short: List updates lag; No fuzzy matching tuning
Source: Bank Secrecy Act and its regulations (31 CFR Chapter X)
FATF R.7 Targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation

Countries implement targeted financial sanctions giving effect to the UN Security Council resolutions on the prevention, suppression and disruption of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and its financing, freezing without delay the funds and other assets of persons and entities designated by or under the authority of the Security Council under Chapter VII and ensuring that no funds or assets are made available to or for their benefit; the Interpretive Note sets the freezing and prohibition obligations, communication, reporting, delisting and the treatment of contracts and basic expenses under the resolutions.

What an examiner asks to see: Legal basis for proliferation-related freezing; Mechanism transmitting UN designations without delay; Institutional screening and reporting on proliferation designations
Where programmes usually fall short: Proliferation designations implemented later than terrorism designations; No reporting of frozen assets to the authority
Source: FATF 40 Recommendations
AUSTRAC AMLCTF-SANCTIONS Sanctions Screening

Screen customers and transactions against DFAT consolidated list and UN sanctions to comply with autonomous sanctions.

What an examiner asks to see: Sanctions screening against DFAT consolidated list
Where programmes usually fall short: No sanctions screening
Source: Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act (Australia)
OFAC OFAC-SCP-3.4 Sectoral Sanctions Identification and Controls

The organization must identify and apply restrictions arising from sectoral sanctions programs that limit specific activities such as new debt, new equity, or services with named entities even where outright dealings are not prohibited.

What an examiner asks to see: Sectoral Sanctions Identifications (SSI) List screening procedures; Directive-specific control matrices (e.g., debt tenor limits); Training records for front-office staff on sectoral restrictions; Documented legal review of new product lines against sectoral programs
Where programmes usually fall short: Front-office systems unable to enforce debt tenor restrictions automatically; Sectoral SSI matches treated identically to SDN matches without sectoral context
Source: OFAC framework for sanctions compliance commitments

Other typologies in sanctions screening and interdiction