Since 2022, jurisdictions around the world have imposed sanctions in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. As a result, individuals, companies, and organizations are asking — what exactly are sanctions and which countries implement them?
Economic sanctions are a foreign policy tool employed by governments and international organizations to advance objectives relating to national security, foreign policy, human rights, and prevention of illicit activity such as drug trafficking or terrorism.
Tracking sanctions regimes — especially complex and rapidly evolving ones, including those from sanctioning bodies with their own unique sanctions lists — carries a range of institutional risks that span compliance, legal, reputational, operational, and strategic domains. Given the shifting sanctions landscape faced by banks, financial institutions, multinational corporations, and even public-sector bodies, effective mitigation requires institutions to keep pace with evolving rules and evasion tactics.
As defined by the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
1. Comprehensive
Target entire countries or jurisdictions and generally prohibit all financial activity, including imports/exports and financing or facilitating trade of goods, services, or technology. Examples include US sanctions against Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
2. Sectoral
Restrict certain sectors. Persons subject to these sanctions are included on OFAC’s Sectoral Sanctions Identifications (SSI) List, for example those that are aimed at Russia’s defense, energy, and financial sectors.
3. List-Based
Target individuals and entities for specific behavior such as terrorism, nuclear proliferation, human rights abuses, and drug trafficking. Most commonly, these individuals are subject to blocking or asset freezes. Individuals and entities subject to these sanctions are included on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.
Today’s sanctions landscape reflects a broad mix of national and multilateral actions, each with its own scope and intent. As jurisdictions respond to geopolitical tension and emerging threats, organizations face increasing complexity in understanding the rules, monitoring changes, and assessing related risks.
Sanctions regimes around the world as of January 2026.
Sanctions often encompass financial trade restrictions, which can include:
Autonomous sanctions refer to measures that are established and implemented by a singular jurisdiction, independently of both regional and international bodies. These measures are exclusive to the jurisdiction that enacts them and are not adopted or enforced by additional jurisdictions. For instance, the sanctions imposed by the United States on Cuba are an example of autonomous sanctions.
Conversely, multilateral sanctions are instituted by several governments, regional entities, or international organizations, such as the European Union (EU) or the United Nations (UN).
Moody’s ongoing review of sanctions aims to provide additional information on what autonomous and global sanctions regimes may be in place for each country. As of December 2025, a total of 245 countries, territories, and jurisdictions were assessed. Our review found that 30% of the 245 countries, territories, and jurisdictions analyzed had an autonomous sanctions regime. Out of that 30%, 85% were found to have a public-facing list.
245 countries, territories and jurisdictions were considered for this analysis. Although most countries do not have autonomous sanctions regimes, many do follow the regimes of larger multilateral organizations like the UN and EU.
Sanctions screening is an important component of key processes, including KYC (know your customer), third-party risk management, and compliance, whether businesses are operating domestically or internationally. Staying current with sanctions regulations and watchlists is key to regulatory compliance and understanding customer- or supplier-related risk.
Moody’s sanctions, ownership, and control data collection and automated screening solutions offer extensive coverage to support you in understanding sanctions risk exposure.
Moody’s sanctions screening utilizes a powerful, global risk database of adverse media, politically exposed persons (PEPs), watchlists, and sanctions. Obtained from third party sources like denied persons/entity lists, regulatory authorities, and law enforcement, Moody’s curates risk information into detailed profiles by individual or organization, so you can understand associated risk in structured and detailed reports.
Moody’s sanctions collection is monitored daily for updates, and, given the criticality sanctions lists pose, extra checks are performed to support list quality.
Moody’s offers a range of third-party risk management and compliance solutions, including solutions for sanctions screening. For more information, please get in touch with the team any time—we would love to hear from you.
Disclaimer: This report is partially derived from online research and has not been independently validated or audited. Moody’s neither represents nor warrants the accuracy or completeness of the information presented herein and disclaims any and all liability in relation to its accuracy or suitability for any particular purpose.
This report is partially derived from online research and has not been independently validated or audited. Moody’s neither represents nor warrants the accuracy or completeness of the information presented and disclaims any and all liability in relation to its accuracy or suitability for any particular purpose.