Business Solutions

OFAC Screening

With mandatory federal requirements and a renewed focus on national security, it is more important than ever to implement and maintain an effective OFAC compliance program.

Now, Equifax Compliance Data Center, Inc. (CDC) offers you a sophisticated tool that integrates with your current account opening procedures and automates the OFAC screening process.

What is OFAC?

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions against targeted foreign countries, terrorism sponsoring organizations, and international narcotics traffickers based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals. OFAC maintains a list of “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDN) and “Blocked Persons” that is made available to all institutions covered by the laws and regulations administered by OFAC.

OFAC defines a Blocked Person or entity as a citizen of a blocked country or business owned and controlled by the government of a sanctioned country or territory.

Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) are blocked individuals and entities that could be located anywhere, not just within a blocked country. SDNs can be blocked because, among other things, OFAC has determined they are affiliated with a government of a sanctioned country or are designated international narcotics traffickers or terrorists.

OFAC regulations pertain to any institution that accepts financial payments and failure to comply with OFAC regulations can result in stiff penalties.

For more information on the Office of Foreign Assets Control and its’ regulations, please click here to go to the U.S. Treasury Web site - www.ustreas.gov/ofac.

OFAC Alert^TM

• Delivered through Equifax Decision Power or ePORT for easy integration with account opening and decisioning processes
• Compliance Data Center's comprehensive database of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons is monitored and updated daily instilling confidence that the data is current and accurate
• Sophisticated search and matching techniques consider abbreviations, initials, word order, compounds and foreign transliterations, thereby minimizing false positives and reducing manual reviews
• Returns comprehensive, easy-to-read results to the point-of-sale or via daily e-mails directly to your compliance contacts for immediate action
• Available at the point-of-sale or as a batch process for your entire portfolio

OFAC data is constantly changing. OFAC Alert provides you the peace-of-mind that comes with knowing you are using an effective screening tool to facilitate compliance with federal OFAC requirements.

Equifax provides value-added information and related services that help companies maximize their efforts to identify, lend and transact with commercial and consumer customers throughout the entire account life cycle.

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