What Is Sanctions Screening? Explained Simply
What is sanctions screening? It's how financial institutions check whether a customer, company or payment may be linked to a restricted person or organisation — at onboarding and every time money is sent or received.
Transcript
What is sanctions screening? Sanctions screening is how financial institutions check whether a customer, company, or payment may be linked to a restricted person or organization.
These checks can happen when an account is open or whenever money is sent or received.
If the system finds a possible match, the transaction may be paused while someone reviews it.
Sanctions screening helps institutions follow the law and avoid providing services to prohibited parties.
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About this episode
Sanctions screening is how financial institutions check whether a customer, company or payment may be linked to a restricted person or organisation. It runs against the sanctions lists institutions are legally required to observe.
The checks aren't a one-off. They happen when an account is opened and again whenever money is sent or received, which is why screening is a continuous control rather than a box ticked at onboarding. When the system flags a possible match, the transaction may be paused while someone reviews it — a genuine hit and a similar name look much the same to software, so a human makes the final call.
That pause is the control working as intended rather than a fault. Sanctions screening is what keeps institutions on the right side of the law and stops services being provided to prohibited parties, and it sits alongside the wider AML controls a Demivolt-style regulated EMI is expected to run.
Key takeaways
- Sanctions screening checks whether a customer, company or payment is linked to a restricted person or organisation.
- Checks run when an account is opened and every time money is sent or received.
- A possible match can pause a transaction while someone reviews it — false matches on similar names are why a human decides.
- It keeps institutions compliant with the law and prevents services reaching prohibited parties.
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