---
title: "Sanctions screening"
description: "Checking customers, counterparties, and payments against government sanctions lists — such as OFAC’s SDN list — before funds are allowed to move."
reviewedBy: "Krisan Nichani, Chief Compliance Officer"
updated: "July 2026"
canonical: "https://infinite.net/learn/glossary/sanctions-screening"
---

# Sanctions screening

Sanctions screening is the process of checking customers, counterparties, and payments against government sanctions lists — in the US, primarily OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list — before providing services or letting funds move. Sanctions compliance is strict liability: transacting with a sanctioned party is a violation regardless of intent, so screening happens before settlement, not after.

Screening runs at onboarding and again at each payment, because lists change constantly and a clean counterparty yesterday can be a designated one today. Name matching is fuzzy by design — transliterations, aliases, partial matches — which produces false positives that need human adjudication, while true matches must be blocked or rejected and reported.

On Infinite, screening is where every payment starts: every counterparty is screened before funds move, on every rail — stablecoins included — and a counterparty vetted once on the network is vetted for every participant. The screening record becomes part of the transaction’s documented case file.

## Frequently asked questions

### What lists does sanctions screening check?

In the US, primarily OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, along with other government sanctions and watchlists. Lists change constantly, which is why screening repeats at every payment. [OFAC](https://infinite.net/learn/glossary/ofac.md)

### How often does sanctions screening happen?

At onboarding and again at each payment — a clean counterparty yesterday can be a designated one today. On Infinite, every counterparty is screened before funds move, on every rail. [Stablecoin compliance](https://infinite.net/use-cases/global-compliance)

### Are stablecoin transfers sanctions-screened?

On Infinite, yes — stablecoin transfers run through the same screening and monitoring as fiat payments, and the screening record becomes part of the transaction’s documented case file. [Stablecoin Payments](https://infinite.net/payments/stablecoins)

## Where it fits on Infinite

- [Stablecoin compliance](https://infinite.net/use-cases/global-compliance)
- [Embedded Compliance](https://infinite.net/compliance/embedded)
- [Stablecoin Payments](https://infinite.net/payments/stablecoins)

## See also

- [AML transaction monitoring](https://infinite.net/learn/glossary/aml-transaction-monitoring.md)
- [Know Your Business (KYB)](https://infinite.net/learn/glossary/know-your-business.md)