Understanding the UN Sanctions List in 2026

Sanctions are enforcement measures taken by governments to deter financial crime and safeguard the public. They are imposed on individuals, legal entities, and governments identified as engaging in, facilitating, or supporting financial crime, corruption, or terrorist operations.

The United Nations (UN) maintains a sanctions list (otherwise known as the United Nations Security Council Consolidated list or UNSC Consolidated List), which many businesses are legally obliged to check to avoid doing business with criminals, drug traffickers, and money launderers. For example, under the EU’s AML Regulation, financial institutions and other obliged organizations must check their customers against the lists of persons or entities contained in sanctions lists, including the UN Sanctions List.

727 individuals and 273 entities subject to sanctions are included in the United Nations Security Council Consolidated List, as of 6 November 2025. This list is maintained to facilitate the implementation of measures imposed by the Security Council, which can include asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes, among other restrictions.

Onboarding a sanctioned client threatens the safety and compliance of a business. The consequences of UN sanctions compliance errors vary from security breaches, stolen funds, regulatory fines, and even criminal penalties.

Read Sumsub’s article to learn more about UN sanctions and why businesses need to address them.

What are UN sanctions?

UN sanctions are restrictive measures imposed by the United Nations Security Council to enforce international law, maintain or restore peace and security, and compel states or entities to comply with its decisions.

UN sanctions are organized into a list that contains two main sections: 

• for individuals 
• for entities or other non-state groups, organizations, or undertakings

Each entry is listed alphabetically and includes narrative summaries explaining the reasons for the sanctions, where available.

UN sanctions are a crucial tool for addressing threats to international peace and security, and member states are obligated to implement the sanctions relevant to each listed party under their national laws.

What is the UN sanctions list?

The UN sanctions list is a consolidated roster of natural persons and entities or other groups, designated by United Nations Security Council resolutions for measures such as asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes to maintain or restore international peace and security.

At the same time, the UN does not maintain a blanket list of countries. Instead, it implements specific sanctions regimes targeting particular countries, conflicts, threats, or issues (e.g., North Korea, Iran, or groups such as Al-Qaeda).

How is the UN sanctions list maintained?

The UN sanctions list is maintained by UN member states and organizations to eliminate terrorism, weapons proliferation, human rights violations, money laundering, deliberate destabilization of sovereign countries, drug trafficking, etc. Depending on the situation, sanctions are applied to economic, cultural, trading, or diplomatic relationships with targeted countries.

The list is updated regularly, based on requests from UN member states to add or remove individuals and entities. The UN Security Committee then reviews these requests and decides whether to approve or deny them. Decisions are governed by formal review procedures. When a change is approved, the list is updated, the relevant country or countries are notified, and an official UN press release is published detailing the changes. There is no fixed schedule for updating the list; updates occur as and when requests are received.

What does the UN sanctions list include?

Security Council sanctions have taken on a number of different forms and goals. Currently, there are four main UN sanctions categories:

• Economic sanctions

Trade bans and barriers, such as increased fees in certain economic sectors like food, weapons, pharmaceuticals, etc.

• Asset freezes

Preventing a sanctioned individual from accessing their assets.

• Travel bans

Various restrictions on travel to a comprehensive ban for all nationals of a country, a ban on transit through territories of a country, a ban on travel to rebel-held territory within a country, to an aviation ban on all flights into or out of a country, etc.

• Arms embargoes

Banning the export of weapons and related technology, including components and ‘dual-use’ items (i.e., that can be used for either military or non-military purposes).

Suggested read: Effective Sanctions Screening: Best Practices for Preventing Financial Crime

Which countries are currently on the UN sanctions list?

As of 2025, several countries are subject to active UN Security Council sanctions regimes:

• Central African Republic
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Eritrea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Iran
• Iraq
• Lebanon
• Libya
• Mali
• North Korea
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Yemen.

The UN sanctions lists include individuals, entities, and groups associated with: 

• Al-Qaeda
• ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Da’esh)
• Taliban.

How to check the UN sanctions list

You can find a record of all individuals and entities that the UN Security Council has sanctioned on the Consolidated United Nations Security Council Sanctions List. The list can be downloaded in PDF, XML, and HTML formats.

You can also search the list here.

Why are UN sanctions important for businesses?

When a business onboards a sanctioned client, whether knowingly or unknowingly, it threatens safety and compliance. The consequences vary from security breaches, stolen funds, and regulatory fines to civil and criminal penalties. 

Is there a solution? Yes—to ensure compliance, obliged entities must be aware of all sanctions and process customers based on the UN restrictions they or their country face.

Suggested read: The 10 Most Common AML Red Flags to Watch Out for in 2025

How businesses use the UN sanctions list for compliance

Businesses and organizations that have regulatory compliance obligations with regard to sanctions must check their customers against the UN sanctions list. This should be done during customer onboarding, as part of the Know Your Customer (KYC) process. Sanctions screening of customers should also be carried out on an ongoing basis.

Where sanctions due diligence flags a customer as a ‘hit’ against a sanctions list, further investigation must be carried out to confirm if this is a genuine match or a ‘false positive’. Any genuine matches must be reported to the designated person within an organization, which will generally be their Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO).

If an individual or entity is on the UN sanctions list, then regulated businesses will need to turn them down as a customer. If they are an existing customer, their account will need to be closed. The only exception to this would be if the regulated business had been authorized by their regulator under a special license to provide services to an individual or entity on the sanctions list.

Sanctions screening should form part of more general Anti-Money Laundering (AML) screening during KYC. As well as the UN sanctions lists, there are other sanctions lists that may apply, such as the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list. There are also other watchlists that should be checked, including those for Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) and adverse media.

UN vs EU vs OFAC: Key differences

There are various organizations that produce sanctions lists. Some of these apply internationally, while some are national or regional. Three of the most important are those maintained by the UN, the EU, and the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

The UN sanctions list applies to all UN members, meaning they should theoretically be enforced in almost the entire world. EU sanctions include restrictions on economic activity, asset freezes, travel bans, arms embargoes, diplomatic restrictions, and preventing access to sporting events.

The EU sanctions list is binding on EU nationals, as well as anyone located in the EU or doing business there. Types of EU sanctions include asset freezes, travel restrictions, arms embargoes, import and export restrictions, and flight bans.

OFAC is the United States’ financial intelligence and enforcement agency. Their sanctions list targets individuals, entities, and governments that are considered to pose a risk to US security. OFAC sanctions can impose economic restrictions, freeze assets, and prohibit trade with those on the list. 

Compliance with OFAC sanctions is mandatory for people and organizations in the US, but these sanctions can also place pressure on individuals and companies overseas through the use of ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ sanctions. Primary OFAC sanctions prohibit individuals and enterprises in the US from doing business with those on the list. Secondary OFAC sanctions prohibit individuals and companies outside the US from doing business in the US if they have worked with anyone on the list.

Common UN sanctions compliance mistakes to avoid

The penalties for getting sanctions compliance wrong can be very serious, so it is vital that regulated entities fully understand their obligations and key areas of risk. The following are some of the most common sanctions compliance mistakes and tips on how to avoid them.

Mistake #1: Failing to properly understand the risks

Regulated businesses must always be thinking about risk. They should take a risk-based approach, tailoring their Customer Due Diligence (CDD) to the level of potential risk each individual customer poses. If customers are not properly risk profiled when they are brought on board, then those at high risk of being sanctioned in the future may not be flagged. This could mean that, if they are later sanctioned, this is not picked up because they are not re-screened.

Solution:

While sanctions screening should always be a standard part of the onboarding process, it should be re-run on a regular basis for existing customers. If a customer is flagged as high-risk for sanctions during onboarding, they should be checked more frequently on an ongoing basis. This means that, if they are later sanctioned, this will be promptly recognized, so appropriate action can be taken. Effective KYC tools can help to ensure clients are accurately risk-scored, while automated sanctions screening can allow for more frequent, ongoing checks that would be harder to maintain with manual screening.

Mistake #2: Inadequate due diligence

As covered above, sanctions screening should always form part of Customer Due Diligence. But it is not enough to simply check whether a new or existing customer is on sanctions lists. Regulated entities must also determine who their customers are connected to, including the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO), and whether they are under sanctions. Failing to do so could mean a breach of sanctions even where an organization thinks they have checked for this.

Solution:

Regulated entities must carry out thorough due diligence on all of their customers. Here again, a risk-based approach is crucial. Understanding who is a potential high-risk customer can allow more thorough due diligence to be completed where needed, without creating unnecessary workload or making onboarding overly onerous for customers by requiring these types of comprehensive checks for everyone.

Mistake #3: Failing to keep track of changes to sanctions regimes

Sanctions lists are regularly updated, so it is not enough to simply screen a customer when they come on board, then carry out no further checks. If a regulated entity does not keep on top of changes to the relevant lists and re-run KYC checks on their customers on a frequent basis, they could find themselves inadvertently breaching sanctions, and ignorance is not an excuse.

Solution: 

Automated sanctions screening is the best way to avoid this issue, as it means any changes to applicable lists will be instantly pulled in, and KYC checks can be repeated regularly without significantly adding to a compliance team’s workload.

Mistake #4: Breaching mandatory reporting rules

Regulated entities will generally have mandatory reporting obligations in relation to sanctioned individuals and entities. Any transactions or relationships that could impact sanctions must normally be reported to the relevant authority. Any inadvertent breaches of sanctions must also be swiftly reported. Failure to make these reports or doing so in a way that is incomplete or inaccurate can result in enforcement action.

Solution:

Businesses must fully understand their sanctions reporting obligations, including what information is required and reporting deadlines. Having the right technical solutions can make this much simpler by automating the reporting process. This ensures all necessary reports can be made on time and with all required information included.

Expert insight: How companies manage multi-list screening

How Walbi strengthened customer verification and cut manual workload with Sumsub

AI-driven cryptocurrency exchange Walbi provides intelligent solutions for traders seeking actionable insights. Founded in 2023, they have over 1.7 million registered users worldwide and a daily trading volume of $7 million. Fast, accurate, and fully compliant user verification is vital to their operations, but their existing process was slow, resource-hungry, and inefficient. One serious challenge was a lack of access to key databases, including global watchlists. They also needed to make their verification process more reliable and able to meet the demands of their plans for scaling.

Sumsub stepped in with our automated infrastructure and flexible integration options. This allowed Walbi to reduce its reliance on manual work, speeding up customer onboarding and ensuring full compliance with all regulatory requirements. Our solution included AML screening and ongoing monitoring, giving Walbi access to global sanctions lists, Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) databases, and other key watchlists.

Within one month of working with us, Walbi saw a 20% increase in revenue. Verification times have fallen considerably, and conversion rates have more than doubled, putting them on a strong footing for future expansion.

Smarter, faster, safer: Automating Sanctions Screening

Manual checks are no longer helpful and scalable enough for onboarding high volumes of customers. Besides that, personal data can't be processed as accurately as it can be with automation. Screening software has proven to be more efficient and precise when it comes to searching for data across watch lists. Accordingly, an automated KYC/AML solution can help you monitor individuals on global sanctions lists, including OFAC, UN, HMT, EU, and DFAT.

Sumsub’s AI-driven AML screening tool automatically checks customers against sanctions lists in real time, providing a fast, accurate solution for both onboarding and ongoing monitoring. It can also check other trusted watchlists, including for Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) and adverse media. You can be confident of full regulatory compliance while cutting your workload and making sure any changes to watchlists that affect your customers are promptly picked up and flagged.

Identify AML risks with Sumsub

Detect high-risk users by screening them against global watchlists for sanctions, PEPs, and adverse media.

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FAQ

• What is the UN sanctions list?

  The UN sanctions list is a UN-issued list of individuals and legal entities, or other groups, that face economic, trade, or diplomatic limitations due to l or peace- or international law-violating activity.

• What are the different types of UN sanctions?

  There are diplomatic (e.g. end of cooperation), economic (e.g. trade ban, tariffs), travel (e.g. travel ban, aviation ban), and sport (e.g. disqualification) sanctions.

• Who enforces UN sanctions?

  UN member states are responsible for implementing and enforcing sanctions at the national level.

• How do I check the UN sanctions list?

  You can review the full UN sanctions list on the UN Security Council website or search the list here.

• What countries are under UN sanctions?

  As of 2025, several countries the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen, are subject to one or more active UN Security Council sanctions regimes. There is no single “UN-sanctioned countries list.” Instead, the UN enforces multiple sanctions regimes, each targeting specific conflicts, threats, or issues.

• What is the difference between UN and OFAC sanctions?

  Separate lists of sanctions are maintained by the UN Security Council and the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). UN sanctions apply to all UN member states and include restrictions on economic activity, access to assets, travel, arms sales, diplomacy, and access to sporting events. OFAC sanctions apply to US citizens and organizations, as well as any overseas individuals or companies wishing to do business in the US. They prohibit business activity with anyone on the list.

• How do businesses comply with UN sanctions?

  Regulated businesses comply with the UN sanctions by checking new and existing customers against the list in a process called ‘sanctions screening’. This takes place as part of broader Anti-Money Laundering (AML) screening during the Know Your Customer (KYC) process that is used to assess the risk of financial crime that customers pose.

• How often is the UN sanctions list updated?

  The UN sanctions list is updated on an ongoing basis, as and when UN member states request that an individual or entity be added to, or removed from, the list. The UN Security Council reviews these requests and, if they are accepted, then the list will be updated.

• Where can I learn more about UN sanctions?

  Learn more about UN sanctions on the United Nations’ Official Website. Otherwise, read The Sumsuber for more insights on UN sanctions.