The US Treasury Department took a significant step in its review of sanctions programs by removing 84 individuals and companies from the sanctions list. The move aims to ease the compliance burden so that financial institutions can focus more effectively on the most serious threats.
The comprehensive review launched by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in May aims to clean up outdated targets and maintain the sharpness of sanctions. A Treasury official said, "Our goal is to ensure Treasury sanctions remain effective, sharp, and focused, and to eliminate the bloat left over from previous administrations."
The official noted that more than 3,000 names were designated in 2024, compared to just 880 in 2017, and said, "Sanctions are not designed as a tool to last forever."
Details of the Removals
This second tranche of removals on Monday includes:
- 36 deceased individuals and related listings
- 33 Iraq-linked entities designated in 1991 or 1992
- 7 outdated or defunct Colombia-related narcotics listings
- 8 neutralized drug kingpins
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also updated the records of 22 individuals and entities, adding or clarifying missing key identifiers. Each removal undergoes interagency review to ensure it does not harm US foreign policy or national security interests. The Treasury noted that names can be re-listed if necessary.
Efforts to Streamline Compliance
The review has so far focused on older sanctions records, where identifying information such as place and date of birth, unique identification numbers, nationality, or gender was sometimes missing. The Treasury said that adding more robust data should make compliance screening less burdensome for financial institutions.
OFAC also identified a small number of duplicate entries where the same person or property appeared more than once on sanctions lists. The Treasury announced that Monday's action resolved 18 such sets.
Brett Erickson, managing partner of Obsidian Risk Advisors, said, "With so much activity on the sanctions front, you need to be as efficient as possible, otherwise there's a risk of failure."
In an internal document, the Treasury stated, "To reduce the compliance burden on financial institutions and improve national security outcomes, the Treasury is reviewing outdated or difficult-to-screen targets." The document emphasized that the impact of sanctions should be measured "not by the number of names we put on a list, but in terms of impact, results, and national security benefit."
On June 29, the Treasury launched a new online portal where sanctioned individuals or companies can request removal from the list. This step is part of an effort to streamline the delisting process.
Bessent also repeatedly emphasized that the Trump administration is willing to impose sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, which the Biden administration avoided due to concerns about rising oil prices.
