Screening of sanctions lists (Screening)
Systematic screening process of business partners against international sanctions lists before any transaction.
Sanctions Screening
Screening (or screening) is the process of systematically verifying a company's customers, suppliers, partners and beneficial owners against international sanctions lists, before and during any commercial relationship.
Top lists to screen
- UN: Consolidated list of Security Council sanctions
- EU: Consolidated list of restrictive measures (FSF database — Financial Sanctions Files)
- France: Freeze of assets (Directorate General of the Treasury)
- United States: OFAC SDN List, Entity List (BIS), Denied Persons List
- United Kingdom: UK Sanctions List (OFSI)
When to screen?
Before any new commercial relationship (onboarding), before each significant transaction, periodically for existing relationships (updating lists) and during any alert or change in circumstances.
Screening tools
Specialized software automates screening: Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, World-Check (LSEG), LexisNexis, Comply Advantage, Descartes. They cross-reference commercial data with continuously updated sanctions lists.
“Hits” management
A “hit” (match) does not necessarily mean a sanction: false positives (homonymies) are common. Each hit must be analyzed and documented by the compliance team.
Legal obligation
Screening is not optional. Ignorance of an applicable sanction is not grounds for exemption. Companies are required to put in place reasonable verification measures.