Sanctions Screening (Watchlist Screening)

Sanctions Screening (Watchlist Screening) checks individuals and entities against government-maintained lists of persons subject to economic sanctions. TrustGate provides comprehensive coverage across all major global sanctions regimes.

Why Sanctions Screening Matters

Conducting business with sanctioned individuals or entities is illegal in most jurisdictions. Violations can result in:

Civil penalties up to $311,562 per violation (OFAC)
Criminal penalties up to $1,000,000 and 20 years imprisonment
Secondary sanctions affecting non-US persons dealing with sanctioned parties
License revocation and debarment from government contracts

Critical Compliance Requirement

Sanctions screening is not optional. Financial institutions, money service businesses, and many other regulated entities must screen all customers at onboarding and on an ongoing basis.

Sanctions Lists Covered

TrustGate screens against all major global sanctions lists:

OFAC SDN List (Specially Designated Nationals)

The primary US sanctions list maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Attribute	Details
Jurisdiction	United States
Administrator	US Treasury (OFAC)
Entity Count	~12,000+ entries
Update Frequency	Multiple times weekly
Coverage	Individuals, companies, vessels, aircraft

Programs included:

Counter Terrorism
Counter Narcotics
Non-Proliferation
Iran Sanctions
Russia/Ukraine Sanctions
North Korea Sanctions
Venezuela Sanctions

EU Consolidated Sanctions List

The unified European Union sanctions list.

Attribute	Details
Jurisdiction	European Union (27 member states)
Administrator	European Commission
Entity Count	~4,500+ entries
Update Frequency	As needed (typically weekly)
Coverage	Individuals, entities, groups

Measures included:

Asset freezes
Travel bans
Sectoral sanctions

UN Security Council Consolidated List

Sanctions mandated by United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Attribute	Details
Jurisdiction	Global (193 UN member states)
Administrator	UN Security Council
Entity Count	~800+ entries
Update Frequency	As resolutions passed
Coverage	Individuals, entities, groups

Sanctions regimes:

ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida
Taliban
North Korea (DPRK)
Yemen
South Sudan
Central African Republic

UK HM Treasury Sanctions List

United Kingdom's financial sanctions list.

Attribute	Details
Jurisdiction	United Kingdom
Administrator	HM Treasury (OFSI)
Entity Count	~3,400+ entries
Update Frequency	As needed
Coverage	Individuals, entities

Post-Brexit Note

Since Brexit, the UK maintains an independent sanctions regime. UK businesses must screen against both UK and applicable international lists.

Data Coverage

TrustGate normalizes data from 200+ authoritative sources into a consistent format:

{
  "schema": "Person",
  "id": "tg-12345",
  "properties": {
    "name": ["John Smith", "Jon Smith", "J. Smith"],
    "birthDate": ["1975-03-15"],
    "nationality": ["US", "GB"],
    "topics": ["sanction"]
  },
  "datasets": ["us_ofac_sdn", "eu_fsf"]
}

Coverage Statistics

Source Type	Approximate Count
Sanctions lists	50+ national lists
PEP databases	180+ countries
Adverse media	Integrated with sanctions
Total entities	500,000+

How Fuzzy Matching Works (Approximate Name Matching)

Sanctions evasion often involves name variations. TrustGate uses multiple matching techniques to catch them:

Matching Techniques

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Fuzzy Matching Pipeline                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                  │
│  Input: "Mohammad Al-Rahman"                                     │
│                                                                  │
│  ┌──────────────┐   ┌──────────────┐   ┌──────────────────┐     │
│  │ Exact Match  │ → │ Phonetic     │ → │ Token-based      │     │
│  │              │   │ (Soundex,    │   │ (Jaccard,        │     │
│  │              │   │  Metaphone)  │   │  Overlap)        │     │
│  └──────────────┘   └──────────────┘   └──────────────────┘     │
│         │                  │                    │                │
│         ▼                  ▼                    ▼                │
│  ┌──────────────┐   ┌──────────────┐   ┌──────────────────┐     │
│  │ Edit Distance│ → │ Transliter-  │ → │ Name Parsing     │     │
│  │ (Levenshtein)│   │ ation        │   │ (First/Last)     │     │
│  └──────────────┘   └──────────────┘   └──────────────────┘     │
│                                                                  │
│  Matches: "Mohammed Al Rahman", "Muhammed al-Rahman",           │
│           "M. Al-Rahman", "Mohammad Rahman"                      │
│                                                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Name Variation Examples

Technique	Input	Matches
Phonetic	Mohammed	Muhammad, Mohamed, Mohamad
Transliteration	Владимир	Vladimir, Wladimir
Token reordering	John Smith	Smith, John
Initial expansion	J. Smith	John Smith, James Smith
Alias matching	El Chapo	Joaquin Guzman
Typo tolerance	Hussien	Hussein

Matching Threshold

TrustGate uses a configurable match threshold:

# Default threshold: 0.5 (50%)
screening_result = await screening_service.check_individual(
    name="John Smith",
    birth_date=date(1980, 1, 15),
    countries=["US"],
    threshold=0.5  # Matches with 50%+ confidence returned
)

Threshold Tuning

Lower threshold (0.3-0.5): More hits, more false positives, better coverage
Higher threshold (0.7-0.9): Fewer hits, fewer false positives, may miss variations
Recommended: Start at 0.5, adjust based on false positive rate

Confidence Scores (Match Scores)

Every potential match includes a confidence score from 0-100 indicating match quality.

Score Calculation

Confidence scores are calculated based on multiple factors:

Factor	Weight	Description
Name similarity	40%	How closely names match
Date of birth	25%	Exact match, partial match, or missing
Country	15%	Nationality or residence match
Identifiers	20%	Passport, national ID matches

Score Interpretation

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Confidence Score Guide                       │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│  90-100  ████████████████████████████████  Very High            │
│          Strong name match + DOB match + country match          │
│          Action: Thorough review, likely true positive          │
│                                                                 │
│  75-89   ██████████████████████████        High                 │
│          Strong name match + partial DOB or country             │
│          Action: Careful review, probable match                 │
│                                                                 │
│  50-74   ████████████████                  Medium               │
│          Moderate name match, some supporting data              │
│          Action: Standard review, investigate further           │
│                                                                 │
│  <50     ████████                          Low                  │
│          Weak match, likely different person                    │
│          Action: Quick review, likely false positive            │
│                                                                 │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

API Response Example

{
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": "hit-uuid-1",
      "hit_type": "sanctions",
      "matched_name": "John Adam Smith",
      "confidence": 92.5,
      "matched_fields": ["name", "date_of_birth", "country"],
      "list_source": "us_ofac_sdn",
      "list_version_id": "OFAC-2025-01-15",
      "match_data": {
        "caption": "John Adam Smith",
        "properties": {
          "name": ["John Adam Smith", "J.A. Smith"],
          "birthDate": ["1980-01-15"],
          "nationality": ["US"],
          "position": ["Narcotics Trafficker"]
        },
        "datasets": ["us_ofac_sdn"]
      }
    }
  ]
}

[Screenshot: Hit detail view showing confidence score breakdown]

Running Sanctions Screening

On-Demand Screening (Manual Screening)

Run screening through the dashboard or API when needed:

Via Dashboard:

Navigate to Screening > New Check
Select or search for an applicant
Choose Sanctions check type
Click Run Screening

[Screenshot: New screening check form in dashboard]

Via API:

# Screen an existing applicant
curl -X POST https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/screening/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "applicant_id": "applicant-uuid",
    "check_types": ["sanctions"]
  }'

# Ad-hoc screening (no applicant record)
curl -X POST https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/screening/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "John Smith",
    "date_of_birth": "1980-01-15",
    "country": "US",
    "check_types": ["sanctions"]
  }'

Automatic Screening (Workflow Integration)

Configure screening to run automatically during onboarding:

# Example workflow configuration
workflow:
  name: "Standard Onboarding"
  steps:
    - step: identity_verification
    - step: document_verification
    - step: screening
      config:
        check_types: ["sanctions", "pep"]
        auto_approve_clear: true
        escalate_hits: true

Batch Screening (Bulk Screening)

Screen multiple applicants at once:

curl -X POST https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/screening/batch \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "applicant_ids": [
      "uuid-1",
      "uuid-2",
      "uuid-3"
    ],
    "check_types": ["sanctions"]
  }'

Handling Screening Results

Clear Results (No Match)

When no matches are found:

{
  "status": "clear",
  "hit_count": 0,
  "hits": []
}

Recommended actions:

No further action required for sanctions
Continue with other verification steps
Document the clear result in applicant record

Hit Results (Potential Match)

When matches are found:

{
  "status": "hit",
  "hit_count": 2,
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": "hit-uuid",
      "hit_type": "sanctions",
      "matched_name": "John Smith",
      "confidence": 85.5,
      "resolution_status": "pending"
    }
  ]
}

Required actions:

Review each hit to determine if it's a true match
Gather additional information if needed
Resolve the hit as confirmed_true or confirmed_false
Document your decision rationale

Learn more about Hit Resolution

Error Results

When screening fails:

{
  "status": "error",
  "error_message": "Request timed out"
}

Recommended actions:

Retry the screening
Check API status if errors persist
Contact support if issues continue

Best Practices

For Developers

# Example: Proper error handling for screening
async def screen_applicant(applicant_id: str):
    try:
        result = await screening_client.check(
            applicant_id=applicant_id,
            check_types=["sanctions", "pep"]
        )

        if result.status == "error":
            # Retry logic
            await retry_screening(applicant_id)
        elif result.status == "hit":
            # Notify compliance team
            await notify_compliance(applicant_id, result.hits)
        else:
            # Clear - continue workflow
            await continue_onboarding(applicant_id)

    except ScreeningAPIError as e:
        logger.error(f"Screening failed: {e}")
        raise

For Compliance Officers

Review hits promptly - Unresolved hits create regulatory risk
Document thoroughly - Explain why you marked something as false positive
Escalate true positives - Follow your SAR filing procedures
Monitor metrics - Track false positive rates and review time

Hit Resolution - How to review and resolve matches
Ongoing Monitoring - Continuous sanctions screening
Screening Lists - Data sources and update frequency
PEP Screening - Politically exposed persons checks

Why Sanctions Screening Matters​

Sanctions Lists Covered​

OFAC SDN List (Specially Designated Nationals)​

EU Consolidated Sanctions List​

UN Security Council Consolidated List​

UK HM Treasury Sanctions List​

Data Coverage​

Coverage Statistics​

How Fuzzy Matching Works (Approximate Name Matching)​

Matching Techniques​

Name Variation Examples​

Matching Threshold​

Confidence Scores (Match Scores)​

Score Calculation​

Score Interpretation​

API Response Example​

Running Sanctions Screening​

On-Demand Screening (Manual Screening)​

Automatic Screening (Workflow Integration)​

Batch Screening (Bulk Screening)​

Handling Screening Results​

Clear Results (No Match)​

Hit Results (Potential Match)​

Error Results​

Best Practices​

For Developers​

For Compliance Officers​

Related Topics​