Sanctions Evasion Reference

Specific licence

A written authorisation issued to a named applicant permitting a particular transaction that would otherwise be prohibited.

reviewed

2026-08-20

Specific licences are applied for, considered case by case, and issued with conditions and reporting requirements attached to the named applicant. They cannot be relied on by anyone else.

A party asserting that a transaction is licensed, without producing the licence, is asserting nothing that can be verified — and the licence, if genuine, is a document the party holds.

Where this term is used

  • What is dual-use re-export diversion? — Buying controlled civil-use goods lawfully in an open market and re-exporting them to a restricted end user, exploiting the fact that the item itself looks entirely ordinary.
  • How is correspondent banking used to evade sanctions? — Using a chain of banks that each know only their own customer, so that a payment for a restricted party reaches a currency it could not access directly, without any bank in the chain seeing the whole transaction.
  • What is a professional enabler? — A lawyer, accountant, formation agent or broker whose services are what makes a concealment structure work, and whose repeated involvement across unconnected clients is itself the evidence.

Related terms

  • General licence — A published authorisation permitting a defined category of otherwise prohibited transactions, available to anyone who meets its terms without applying.
  • Blocking — Freezing property and interests in property of a designated person that come within a jurisdiction, so it cannot be transferred, paid, withdrawn or otherwise dealt in.
  • Sanctions — Restrictions imposed by a state or international body on dealings with a named person, entity, sector or country, enforced against anyone within that authority's jurisdiction.

Sources

  1. Frequently Asked Questions. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, 2026.

All glossary terms