The U.S. Treasury removed 76 names and entities from the Specially Designated Nationals list to sharpen enforcement focus on higher-risk targets and sanctions evasion. The delistings include 39 deceased individuals, 14 non-operational vessels and 13 defunct companies, and respond to industry complaints about screening low-risk entries. Treasury said annual new listings grew from 880 in 2017 to over 3,000 in 2024, and emphasized that "sanctions are not intended to be eternal."
US Treasury Removes 76 Names From Sanctions List to Focus on High-Risk Targets
Signage is seen at the United States Department of the Treasury headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) — The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Thursday that it is removing 76 names and entities from its sanctions blacklist to better concentrate enforcement on higher-risk targets and possible sanctions evasion.
The delistings come from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list and include 39 deceased individuals, 14 vessels that are no longer operational, and 13 companies that have ceased functioning. Treasury officials said these changes respond to complaints from businesses that were spending significant resources screening low-risk or obsolete entries.
Why Treasury Is Cleaning Up the List
According to the department, many of the removed entries no longer represent an active threat: in some cases the relevant financial networks no longer exist, the companies are defunct or the individuals have died. By pruning the list, Treasury says it can redirect compliance and enforcement effort toward more impactful work, including identifying and disrupting sanctions evasion.
"Treasury is exploring ways to relieve that burden while helping to prioritize more impactful activities to implement sanctions, including scrutinizing for sanctions evasion," the department said in a statement.
More than ten of the removals involved Colombia-based businesses. Many of the delisted individuals were based in or born in countries such as Colombia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Mexico, Russia, Syria, Iraq and Algeria. Among the vessels removed were the Nolan (an oil products tanker) and the Fortune Galaxy (a crude oil tanker), both Panama-flagged, and the Rise Glory, an Iran-flagged crude tanker.
Broader Context
The use of sanctions against countries like Venezuela, Iran, Syria and Russia has expanded in recent years. Treasury noted that annual new listings rose from 880 in 2017 to more than 3,000 in 2024. A senior Treasury official told reporters, "Sanctions are not intended to be eternal," and pointed out that some measures on Syria and Venezuela have been scaled back to better align with evolving U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)
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