Sanctions & PEP Screening
know who you are dealing with
Screen people and companies against sanctions and politically-exposed-person lists, open the full record, and keep tracked searches that email you when a new matching record is added.
Press play to start · Space pauses · ← → skip 5 seconds · C toggles captions
Chapters
What Sanctions & PEP Screening is for
Sanctions & PEP Screening searches sanctions lists and politically exposed person (PEP) records by name, so you can check a client or counterparty before you deal with them. Open any record to see who listed it and when, have Alaya write an Advance Report with linked parties and negative news, and keep tracked searches that email you when a new matching record is added.
Who it's for
Compliance and KYC teams
Screen clients and counterparties at onboarding, keep the result as a Word report, and monitor names afterwards.
Lawyers and deal teams
Check the parties to a transaction, their owners and their press history before signing.
What it solves
A counterparty check in minutes
Search by name across sanctions or PEP records, narrow by country, entity type, list and date, and see at a glance whether a listing has ended.
Seeing the network, not just the name
Linked Parties shows owners, subsidiaries, management and associates — and which of them are listed — so exposure through an affiliate isn't missed.
Staying alert after onboarding
Tracked searches watch the lists for you and send an email when a new matching record is added — for one name or a whole client list.
How to use Sanctions & PEP Screening
Each step shows the real screen. Hover a numbered marker — or the matching note — to see what every control does.
Search for a person or company
Click Sanction in the top navigation. Choose Sanction or PEP, type a name, and narrow the search with Countries, Schemas (entity types such as Person, Company or Vessel), Datasets (the individual lists) and Date range.
- Tick items in a list and click Apply — then click Search. Filter changes don't run on their own.
- Whole word matches your text only as a complete word: “Ali” but not “Alistair”.
- Date range filters on when each record was last updated.
On this screen
Read the results
Matches appear under the search, newest changes first. Each row shows aliases, the entity type, address, the list it comes from and whether the listing has ended. Click View to open a record.
- Sort by Name or Last Updated from the column headers; results come 100 to a page.
- A gray line under a name explains why a linked company is shown, such as “Parent of …”.
- Additional Table lists related records that are not themselves listed.
On this screen
Tip: No results doesn't mean a clean screen — only that no record's main name contains your text. Try other spellings before you rely on it.
Open the record and its listing history
The record shows the entity's details, then its listing history: which authorities listed it, when, under which program and on what grounds — and whether it is still listed.
- Each listing shows In force, Ended or Removed, with a link to the authority's own record.
- Aliases are listed at the bottom of the page.
- Print prints the record section of the page.
On this screen
Generate an Advance Report
Click Advance Report. A drawer opens and Alaya writes a report on the entity from the sanctions lists and the web, with numbered sources. The text takes about a minute; you can then ask Alaya questions about it.
- Linked Parties and Negative News open once the report text is written.
- Download as Word saves the report with its sources, linked parties, negative news and chat.
On this screen
Check linked parties and negative news
Linked Parties shows the people and companies connected to the entity — from the lists' own records and from the web — and marks those that are listed. Negative News searches the press, courts, regulators and enforcement notices.
- Open Linked parties on any card to see who that party is linked to in turn.
- Negative News searches worldwide by default; pick a country or region to narrow it.
- Each finding has a category, a date and its sources.
On this screen
Keep watching with tracked searches
When a search comes back empty, click Track this search to set a standing alert. To watch many names, open Tracked Searches from the bell icon and import a CSV or Excel file. We email you when a new record matches.
- Your file needs one column called name — up to 500 names and 5 MB.
- Download a sample CSV from the import panel if you need a template.
- Filters you choose apply to every imported name.
On this screen
Tip: To change an alert's filters, stop tracking it with the bin icon and track the search again.
Step 01 / 06
Everything Sanctions & PEP Screening can do
The building blocks behind the walkthrough, and what each one does for you.
Sanctions and PEP search
Search sanctions lists or politically exposed persons by name, and narrow by country, entity type, list and date.
Listing history
See which authorities listed an entity, when, under which program — and whether it is still listed.
Advance Report
Alaya writes a cited report from the lists and the web, then answers your follow-up questions.
Linked parties
Owners, subsidiaries, management, family and associates, each marked as listed or not.
Negative news
Press, courts, regulators and enforcement notices, worldwide or for a chosen country, with a risk level.
Tracked searches
Standing alerts that email you when a new matching record is added.
Bulk import
Track up to 500 names at once from a CSV or Excel file.
Export and print
Export results to CSV, print a record, or download an Advance Report as Word.
Tips for getting it right
Try spellings and transliterations
Search matches your text against each record's main name, in the same word order and script. Try variants — Mohammed and Muhammad, Latin and Cyrillic spellings.
An empty result isn't a clearance
It means no main name contains your text. Check spellings and the Additional Table, then track the search so you hear if a match is added.
Apply, then Search
Ticks in Countries, Schemas and Datasets wait for Apply, and filters wait for Search. Sorting and paging re-run the search on their own.
Clear filters with ✕
After opening a record or running a tracked search, a Countries filter can stay applied without showing a count. Close results (✕) clears every filter.
Track names that have results through import
Track this search appears only when a search comes back empty. To watch a name that already has results, add it with Import from CSV / Excel.
Use full names in imports
Imported names match partially, not as whole words, so a short name can trigger alerts for many records.
Statuses you'll see
Work that runs in the background always shows where it stands — here is what each label means.
- Currently listedAt least one authority's listing is still in force.
- No longer listedEvery listing has ended; the date of the last one is shown.
- Generating…The Advance Report is being prepared. The text takes about a minute.
- High riskNegative News found serious adverse coverage. Read each finding and its sources.
- Identity unconfirmedA negative-news finding may be about a namesake. Check its sources.
- WatchingA tracked search is active. You'll get an email when a new record matches.
Sanctions lists and politically exposed person (PEP) records, refreshed daily. Use Datasets to search specific lists, such as the US OFAC SDN List, the EU Financial Sanctions Files or the UK HMT Consolidated List. The “Last updated” date at the foot of the search page is simply today's date.
A record appears when its main name contains your search text. Turn on Whole word to match complete words only, and use the filters to narrow by country, entity type, list or last-updated date.
A written report on the entity from the lists and the web, with numbered sources; Linked Parties, showing owners, subsidiaries, management and associates; and Negative News from the press, courts, regulators and enforcement notices. You can also ask Alaya questions about it.
A tracked search is a standing alert on the database: when a new record matching it is added, we email you. Track a search when it comes back empty, or import a list of names. Stop tracking any alert with the bin icon on Tracked Searches.
On Tracked Searches, choose Import from CSV / Excel and upload a file with one column called name — up to 500 names and 5 MB. Duplicates are removed, you can drop names before importing, and the filters you set apply to every name.
Yes. Export CSV saves the current page of search results, Print prints a record, and Download as Word saves an Advance Report with its sources, linked parties, negative news and chat.
Keep exploring
Related features
- Where to find it
- Top navigation → Sanction