The US Treasury has removed 84 entities from its sanctions list, targeting outdated entries like deceased individuals and defunct networks. This marks one of the most extensive efforts in recent years to streamline the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List.
Between 2017 and 2024, sanctions designations ballooned from around 880 to over 3,000 annually, creating an administrative burden for banks, payment processors, and crypto exchanges, which must screen transactions against the SDN List. Each additional entry leads to more false positives, increasing costs and delays for financial institutions and their customers.
The Treasury’s modernization, announced by Secretary Scott Bessent at the “No Money For Terror” conference in Paris, aims to treat sanctions as flexible tools to change behavior rather than permanent restrictions.
Although no crypto-related entities were removed this time, the move could ease pressure on crypto compliance teams who deal with heavy screening requirements. Reducing irrelevant entries allows them to focus on genuine risks instead of outdated names.
The rapid growth in sanctions designations was not matched by increased compliance resources, so the Treasury’s cleanup effort also seeks to cut the false positive rate, improving operational efficiency across the financial sector.
