Practical guides on OFAC, EU, UK and UN sanctions screening — for compliance, KYC, AML, and onboarding teams.
Sanctions screening explained: what it is, why regulators require it, which lists to screen against (OFAC, EU, UK, UN), and how to do it without drowning in false positives.
Read article →Step-by-step guide to running a free OFAC check against the SDN list — what to type, how to read the result, and when a fuzzy match needs analyst review.
Read article →A practical guide to the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list — how it's structured, how often it changes, and how to screen against it effectively.
Read article →EU sanctions bind EU persons and territory; OFAC binds U.S. persons, USD clearing and secondary targets. The EU list runs ~3,000 entries, OFAC's SDN 12,000+. Full breakdown, plus a free search of both.
Read article →How fuzzy name matching actually works, why naive substring search produces dangerous false positives, and how to tune your match thresholds.
Read article →What PEP screening is, why FATF and AMLD require it, how PEPs differ from sanctioned individuals, and how to run enhanced due diligence without drowning in false positives.
Read article →Compare AML screening software in 2026: sanctions and PEP coverage, fuzzy matching, batch and API screening, audit trails, and realistic pricing — plus a free tool to test today.
Read article →How the UK sanctions regime works post-Brexit, what the OFSI Consolidated List contains, and how to run a UK sanctions check without missing designations the EU and US lists don't carry.
Read article →A CTR is due on FinCEN Form 112 within 15 days for any cash transaction over $10,000 — aggregated per customer per day, across branches. Thresholds, exemptions, and the beneficial-actor field most filers get wrong.
Read article →A practical guide to Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs): the $5,000 threshold, the 30-day filing deadline, FinCEN Form 111, common red flags, and how to write a defensible SAR narrative.
Read article →A practical AML compliance checklist covering the five pillars, KYC, sanctions and PEP screening, transaction monitoring, SAR and CTR filing, training, and independent testing.
Read article →KYC and AML are related but distinct. Here's what each one means, where they overlap, how sanctions and PEP screening fit in, and what a modern KYC + AML workflow looks like end-to-end.
Read article →Any company owned 50%+ (combined) by sanctioned persons is blocked — even if it's not on the SDN list. See examples, aggregation math, and a free screening check.
Read article →Search the EU Consolidated Financial Sanctions List free in seconds. What the list covers, how it differs from OFAC, and how to check any name, company or vessel instantly.
Read article →The SDN list downloads free from ofac.treasury.gov as sdn.xml, sdn_advanced.xml, sdn.csv and sdn.pip. Which format to pick, the ALT/ADD join most teams miss, and the update cadence.
Read article →OFAC updates the SDN list 2-4 times a week — roughly 150-200 updates a year, with no fixed schedule and sometimes two in one day. Here's the 2026 cadence and why monthly re-screening fails audits.
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