What happens if you do business with a sanctioned company?

Can my company be fined for dealing with a sanctioned party?

Yes. Sanctions forbid or restrict dealings with listed people and companies, and in many jurisdictions breaking them is an offence. Authorities fine the company that made the deal, not only the sanctioned party. Making funds or goods available to a listed party, directly or indirectly, is usually enough.

The maximum amounts set by law, taken from official sources and updated by our engine, are shown here:

• United States, OFAC: up to $377,700 per violation or twice the value of the transaction; criminal penalties up to $1,000,000 and 20 years in prison. (source)
• United States, BIS (export controls): up to $374,474 per violation or twice the value of the transaction. (source)
• United Kingdom, OFSI: up to £1,000,000 or 50% of the value of the breach; criminal penalties up to 7 years in prison. (source)
• European Union, Directive 2024/1226: fines on companies of at least 5% of worldwide turnover or €40,000,000, and prison terms of at least 5 years. (source)
• Germany: fines on companies up to €40,000,000. (source)
• Netherlands: fines on companies up to 10% of annual turnover. (source)

Maximum amounts set by law, as published by the authorities linked, checked on October 29, 2026.

These are legal maximums. The actual amount depends on the case: the value of the deal, how long it went on, whether the company reported the breach itself and, very often, which checks it can show it ran. A company with a documented screening process is in a much stronger position than one that simply says it did not know.

What if I did not know the company was sanctioned?

Not knowing helps less than many people think. In several jurisdictions penalties can apply on a strict liability basis, which means the authority does not need to prove you acted on purpose. Elsewhere the question becomes whether you should have known: did you have a reasonable process, did you run it, did you keep the evidence?

Indirect dealings count too. Restrictions often extend to companies owned or controlled by a listed party, even when their own name appears on no list. Paying a distributor who passes the money on, or selling to a buyer who ships the goods to a listed company, can create the same exposure as a direct contract.

Will my bank freeze the payment?

Banks screen payments against the same official lists, and they do it on every transfer. When a payment involves a listed party, or a party the bank suspects is linked to one, the bank can stop it. The funds can remain frozen for a long time while the case is examined, and you usually cannot simply ask for them back.

For a business this means very concrete problems: an invoice that stays unpaid, goods that have already left the warehouse, a supplier payment that never arrives and a production line that waits. The bank may also ask detailed questions about your other customers and suppliers, slow down your future transfers or decide to end the relationship altogether. Finding a new bank while under review is not easy.

What are the legal and reputational consequences?

An investigation takes time and money: lawyers, internal reviews, document collection, replies to the authorities. Senior people spend weeks on it instead of running the business. Contracts may contain clauses that let your customers or lenders terminate if you breach sanctions rules.

Then there is reputation. Large customers, investors and public buyers increasingly ask their suppliers how they screen for sanctions, and a known breach can cost you tenders and partnerships. News about a sanctions case stays online for years. For many companies these indirect costs weigh more than the fine itself.

How do sanctioned parties end up in your CRM?

Rarely through a dramatic event. The usual paths are ordinary:

• a long standing customer is added to a list months after you signed;
• a new supplier is onboarded quickly and nobody runs the check;
• a company changes owner and the new owner is listed;
• a name is spelled or transliterated differently from the list entry, so a manual search misses it;
• a distributor or agent resells to a party you never see.

None of these is solved by a single check at onboarding. They are solved by checking again, regularly, with matching that understands name variants.

How to check if a company is sanctioned

You can do this in a few minutes with Unicorn Intelligence, and keep it running every day without extra work:

1. Sign up with your business email or a Google or Apple account. No card is needed, and you receive a $50 credit as a gift.
2. Connect your CRM (HubSpot, or other tools through Zapier), or upload your list from Google Sheets, Excel or a CSV file.
3. Run the free scan of your contacts: you see at once how many possible matches your list contains.
4. Turn on daily monitoring: every company is compared with the current official lists every day.
5. Get instant alerts by email, in Slack or by webhook when something new appears, and confirm or clear each match with a note that goes to the audit log.

What does the check cover?

Every name goes through these checks, kept in sync with the screening engine:

Every name goes through all these checks, for free. Before monitoring you see only the numbers; with monitoring each name shows which check it hit, with source, list, date and similarity.

• OFAC SDN list (United States): People and companies whose assets are blocked by the US Treasury: any dealing is prohibited.
• EU financial sanctions: The consolidated list of people and companies under asset freeze in the European Union.
• UN Security Council: The consolidated list of the United Nations Security Council, applied by member states.
• UK Sanctions List: The official United Kingdom list of people and companies under financial sanctions.
• OFAC non SDN lists (United States): US sectoral sanctions and sanctions evaders: some operations are prohibited, others allowed.
• US Consolidated Screening List: Export restriction lists of the US Commerce and State Departments, including the Entity List and the Denied Persons List.
• Forced labour list (UFLPA): Companies whose goods cannot be imported into the United States because of forced labour.
• High-risk countries: A signal for contacts in countries on the black and grey lists of the FATF (the international anti money laundering body) and in countries under embargo.
• Other national sanctions lists: Switzerland (SECO), Canada and Australia: they matter if you export there.
• Debarment from public contracts: Companies excluded by the World Bank and other development banks for fraud or corruption, and the SAM list of parties excluded from US public contracts.
• US anti money laundering: Parties named by FinCEN (the anti money laundering authority of the US Treasury) as a "primary money laundering concern", with which US banks cannot operate.
• Politically exposed persons: Directors who are politicians or their relatives. Free sources are incomplete, so this is shown as "possible", never as a certainty.

Screening lists loaded today

What the program does and what stays with you

Unicorn Intelligence is an information tool. It compares names, explains each possible match with a score and the reasons, and keeps a record of every decision. The program can make mistakes: it may flag a name that is only similar, or miss a link that no public source shows. Important matches should always be verified, and final responsibility for compliance stays with your company, ideally with the help of your legal or compliance advisers.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if you do business with a sanctioned company?

Your company can be fined, payments can be frozen, your bank can block transfers or close the account, and you may face legal costs and reputational damage. The exact consequences depend on the jurisdiction and the case.

Can you be fined if you did not know the company was sanctioned?

In some jurisdictions yes, because penalties can apply without proof of intent. Elsewhere authorities look at whether you had a reasonable screening process and can show it, so documented checks matter.

How do I check if a company is on a sanctions list?

Compare its name, aliases and owners with the official sanctions lists. With Unicorn Intelligence you upload or connect your list once, get a free scan of your contacts and then an automatic check every day.

Why check every day and not only at onboarding?

Authorities update sanctions lists on any working day. A customer or supplier who was clean when you signed can be listed later, and only a regular check tells you in time.

Does Unicorn Intelligence replace my compliance team?

No. It automates screening and alerts, but the program can make mistakes and the final decision and responsibility for compliance stay with your company.

Sanctions and risk lists: what they are and how to check them

• OFAC SDN list
• EU financial sanctions list
• UN Security Council consolidated list
• UK Sanctions List
• OFAC non SDN lists
• US Consolidated Screening List
• UFLPA Entity List
• Canada consolidated autonomous sanctions list (SEMA)
• Australia DFAT consolidated list
• Switzerland SECO sanctions list
• Debarment lists (World Bank and SAM)
• FinCEN section 311 special measures
• FATF high risk and monitored countries
• Politically exposed persons (PEP)