What is the difference between OFSI, UN, and EU sanctions lists?

The three lists serve different jurisdictions and are maintained by different authorities, but UK firms regulated under MLR-2017 are typically expected to screen against all three.

OFSI (Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation) is the UK's domestic sanctions enforcer, sitting inside HM Treasury. It publishes the UK's consolidated list of financial sanctions targets: individuals, entities, and ships subject to UK sanctions. Refresh cadence: daily, around 04:00 UTC. Source URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-sanctions-list. Post-Brexit, the OFSI list is the authoritative UK list; it diverges from the EU list and includes targets the UK has independently designated.

UN (United Nations Security Council Consolidated List) covers UN Member State obligations under Security Council resolutions, particularly relating to terrorism financing (1267 / 1989 / 2253), Iran (2231), DPRK (2270), Mali (2374), Yemen (2140), and others. Refresh cadence: as published, typically within hours of a Security Council designation. Source: https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/un-sc-consolidated-list. Every UN Member State (including the UK) implements these obligations domestically.

EU (Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions) is the EU's combined list of designated persons and entities under EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. Post-Brexit, the UK is no longer required to implement EU designations directly, but UK firms transacting with EU counterparties or EU branches still face screening obligations. Refresh cadence: daily.

Certaby screens against all three in one check and returns the per-list match with provenance plus the list-version timestamp the regulator expects to see in the audit trail.

Last updated 2026-05-09.