WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday it taking 76 persons, vessels and entities off its sanctions blacklist that it said were outdated, a move it said would help crack down on sanctions evasion on complex and high-risk targets.The department said it had heard from businesses that complained about being forced to spend significant resources to screen targets that were low-risk. In some cases the targets such as financial networks no longer exist, or individuals who had been sanctioned had died.

The US Treasury is removing about 80 outdated names from its SDN sanctions list as part of a formal review to sharpen OFAC's enforcement focus.

The US Treasury removed 80 outdated entries from the SDN sanctions list, targeting deceased individuals and defunct entities to reduce compliance burdens.