Clearing a Potential Match with a Name on a Government List

[Rev 10-17-22]

The Stewart Special Alerts Database contains names from several sources:

(A)  Special Alerts issued by Stewart Title Guaranty Company (STG) in Houston,

(B)  Closing Alerts issued by Stewart Title Insurance Company (STIC) in New York, and

(C)  U.S. Government Lists (Patriot Act search) issued by the United States Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC).

All “U.S. persons” (including individuals and entities) are prohibited from engaging in transactions (trade or financial transactions or other dealings) with persons or entities on the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List) or the Foreign Sanctions Evaders List (FSE List), published and maintained by the United States Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC).

Searching the OFAC database is often referred to as a “Patriot Act search.” As an accommodation to Issuing Offices, and to assist with “one-stop” searching, the Stewart Database also contains names imported from OFAC’s SDN List and FSE List. Stewart Title makes no representation or warranty about the accuracy of this information. Issuing Offices are permitted to use whatever source they deem appropriate to comply with the Patriot Act, including OFAC’s web-based search engine, described below.

Potential matches with the different lists (Stewart Alerts vs. OFAC lists) are cleared differently.

Special Alert or Closing Alert: A potential match with a name in the Stewart database resulting from a Stewart Alert is generally cleared by Stewart Legal Services, usually in Houston if it is a Special Alert, or in New York if it is a New York Closing Alert, or as otherwise directed on the Alert.

Government List: A potential match with a name on a governmental list (e.g., Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List and/or Foreign Sanctions Evaders (FSE) List), often referred to as a “Patriot Act” search, is cleared by the Issuing Office.

If you believe that there may be a potential match with a name on a government list, you don’t need to complete the Preliminary Questionnaire or request clearance from Stewart Legal Services.

Guidance relating to a potential match with the SDN List or the FSE List or other government sanctions program is available on OFAC’s website.

The following is a link to the Treasury Department's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) relating to the SDN List and the FSE List:

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/faqs/topic/1501

Question 82 describes OFAC’s web-based search engine. The following link may be helpful as a starting point. It should take the user to OFAC’s Sanctions List Search page:

https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/

At the above web page, OFAC’s Sanctions List Search may provide additional information that may help the user to further identify the person or entity that is named on the list, to distinguish the person or entity on the government list from the potential match in the transaction.

A person’s name can be input either first name last name, or last name comma first name. A list of possible matches will be returned for the person or entity. If the user clicks on each possible match, the entry field may open to display specific information about the person or entity (e.g., date of birth, place of birth, etc.) that may help to distinguish them from the potential match in the transaction.

OFAC provides several questions and answers in the FAQs that may provide further guidance.

The user may want to consider Question 5 - “How do I determine if I have a valid OFAC match?"

Here’s a link to that section:

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/faqs/5

The user may want to consider Question 23 - “What do I do if I have a match to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) or one of OFAC's other sanctions lists?”

Here’s a link to that section:

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/faqs/23

It isn’t necessary to send your OFAC search results to SpecialAlerts@stewart.com.

A user may want to consider saving electronic copies/screenshots of the OFAC search results for possible future reference.

** Please do not send any nonpublic personal information (e.g. Social Security number, date of birth, driver license information, passport, etc.) to Stewart Legal Services unless it is specifically requested. **