U.S. Treasury OFAC adds ISIS-linked individuals and money-exchange entities to SDN List
Bank sanctions-screening teams must block payments and freeze US-jurisdiction property involving the newly listed ISIS-linked SDNs
Change
On 22 June 2026, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added named ISIS-linked individuals and multiple money-exchange and crypto-exchange entities in Syria, Turkey and Nigeria to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List under Executive Order 13224, blocking their U.S.-jurisdiction property and creating secondary-sanctions risk.
Why it matters
Designations block listed parties' property subject to U.S. jurisdiction and create secondary-sanctions exposure for non-U.S. persons transacting with them under section 1(b) of EO 13224. Listings carry identifying artefacts — TRX digital-currency addresses, passport numbers, business registrations and addresses — that operators must add as screening inputs for match resolution and escalation. Three Nigerian bureaux de change are designated as linked to the listed individual Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, forming an ownership cluster.
Implications
- — Bank sanctions-screening teams must add the newly listed individual names (ABDELHAKIM, Boukich; ABDERRAHMANE, Miloud; MUHAMMAD, Mukhtar Adamu) to name-match lists and block or reject payments and freeze US-jurisdiction property before the next funds-transfer cycle — failure leaves transfers uncleared and creates blocked-property obligations and OFAC enforcement exposure.
- — Crypto-asset custody and exchange compliance teams must add the disclosed TRX digital-currency addresses tied to Miloud Abderrahmane to blockchain-address screening and block on-chain transfers involving those addresses before the next transfer settlement — failure permits crypto flows involving a designated terrorist.
- — Remittance operators and bureaux de change compliance teams must add the named exchange and money-transfer entities (ALKARAM; BITCOIN EXCHANGE AGENT IDLIB'S NO.1 COIN EXCHANGE; SPIDER) to screening lists and block transactions and freeze US-jurisdiction property on matches before the next transaction cycle — failure exposes the operator to blocked-funds obligations and secondary-sanctions risk.
- — Sanctions-screening teams must treat the three Nigerian bureaux de change tagged (Linked To: MUHAMMAD, Mukhtar Adamu) — GENERATION CURRENCY BUREAU DE CHANGE, MANHATTAN BUREAU DE CHANGE, NINE TO NINE EXCHANGE BUREAU DE CHANGE — as an ownership cluster under the listed individual and screen the hub and all three entities together — a match on any one implicates the others under OFAC's ownership aggregation.
- — Sanctions compliance teams at banks and non-bank financial institutions must treat parties tagged (Linked To: ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND THE LEVANT) as subject to blocking and secondary-sanctions obligations and escalate any matches for OFAC reporting and legal review immediately.
Who is affected
- — Bank sanctions-screening teams at financial institutions
- — Crypto-asset custody and exchange compliance teams
- — Remittance operators and bureaux de change compliance teams
- — Sanctions compliance teams at banks and non-bank financial institutions