DFAT sanctions screener
Catch the sanctioned counterparty before the wire instruction goes out.
A list of names, three free and up to 50 on Pro, is on the DFAT name list. That page is an exact match only. It is not OFAC.
Preview · example result
1 hit on the Australian list. Reference 6678. Autonomous (Russia). Date of birth 7 October 1952. Control date 28 February 2022.
-
Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN
Name match
Pro members only
Start the 3 day trial to screen your actual counterparties
The sample above is one row from the Australian Sanctions Consolidated List imported on 25 September 2026 (4,010 primary names). The paid plans, from USD 59 a month, unlock the search, so you can paste the name on the invoice. It does not search OFAC. The LC checker, the landed-cost calculator, and the other Pro lookups are on the same plan.
Pro is for the procurement or compliance team that wires every month and wants the sanctions screen, the spread math, and the LC pre-check sitting one tab away. Cancel anytime from /account.
Worked example: a Russia-related corporate counterparty
A buyer asks you to invoice a freight forwarder out of Limassol that is settling on behalf of a Moscow-registered chemical-trade house called Severstal-Khim. The buyer says the wire instructions name a separate operational subsidiary. The proforma invoice has PJSC Severstal in the seller block and the bank-account block names VTB Bank. The cargo is a 20FT containerload of titanium dioxide bound for Melbourne.
Run the proforma seller name through the screener. "Severstal" hits Public Joint Stock Company Severstal under Autonomous (Russia). "VTB Bank" hits VTB Bank under the same program. Both are on the Australian list. The wire instruction does not leave your treasury system. You call your bank's sanctions desk and your DFAT compliance contact before anything else moves.
The fix is straightforward in hindsight. Cancel the booking, escalate to the buyer's compliance team, and document the screening hit in the customer file with the timestamp and the matched designation. The shipment does not move under that seller. The next thing you do is screen every other counterparty in the buyer's tier-1 vendor list, because the broker who put a sanctioned entity on the proforma is rarely a one-time problem. The load that does not ship is the load that saves the licence.
Frequently asked
Where does the data come from?
The Australian Sanctions Consolidated List workbook published by DFAT, imported on 25 September 2026. It holds 4,010 primary names. Aliases and original-script names that share a reference are folded onto the primary name. The list covers Australian autonomous sanctions and the UN regimes Australia implements. The file is at dfat.gov.au/international-relations/security/sanctions/consolidated-list.
How current is the list?
The copy on this site was imported on 25 September 2026 from the workbook DFAT was publishing that day. Designations change after that. A clear result against this copy is not clearance. Re-check the name on the DFAT page, and on OFAC, UK OFSI, and the EU list, before a wire.
How does the fuzzy match work?
Four layers, in order. Exact match (case and accent insensitive). Substring match (the query appears inside the name or any alias). Soundex phonetic match (catches transliteration variants like Khamenei / Khamenehi). Levenshtein edit distance up to three characters (catches typos and minor spelling drift). Each hit is scored and the top 20 are returned.
What is the difference between exact match and potential match?
Exact match means the query equals the listed name or a known alias character-for-character after case and accent normalisation. Potential match means the query was found through substring, phonetic, or edit-distance fuzzy matching. Treat any potential match as a flag to verify against the primary source by full name, date of birth, and address before any transaction.
A clean result means I can wire the funds, right?
No. A clear result means the name was not found in the imported Australian list. It does not cover the OFAC SDN list, the UK OFSI list, or the EU consolidated list, and it can miss a designation DFAT added after 25 September 2026. Run the name on the DFAT page and through your bank's screen before the wire.
Related tools
Need to verify a Chinese company before sending the funds? The USCC validator checks the 18-character Unified Social Credit Code against GB 32100-2015. The Tianyancha and Qichacha quicklink generates verification deeplinks straight from a Chinese company name or USCC into both registries. Cross-check both before wiring funds.
Want a factory that passes these checks?
Tell us the chemical, grade and quantity. A person on our team in Shanghai sends you a real, checked factory, and your first one is free.
Sourzi shows what official files say. It is not customs or legal advice. For a binding answer, ask a licensed customs broker, a CBP ruling or an Australian Border Force Tariff Advice.
File dates and links are on Data sources.