Sanctions Screening Basics and Managing Potential Matches
Watch our new OFAC Law video, “Sanctions Screening Basics: How to Handle Hits, Positives & False Positives.”
Sanctions screening is often the frontline control for organizations operating internationally, but weak screening procedures, poor escalation workflows, and improperly configured systems can create both compliance exposure and unnecessary operational disruption.
This video provides an overview of the sanctions screening process and explains how organizations review customers, counterparties, transactions, and other data against sanctions lists and related information to identify potential matches involving sanctioned parties or restricted activity.
The discussion walks through several core sanctions screening concepts, including:
- Potential matches and screening alerts
- True matches and confirmed positives
- False positives
- Escalation and review procedures
- Documentation and compliance controls
The video also examines several common sanctions screening pitfalls, including over-reliance on name-only screening, outdated sanctions lists and filters, failure to account for ownership and control issues, and the absence of clear internal review and escalation workflows.
As discussed in the video, sanctions screening is not simply a box-checking exercise. Effective sanctions compliance programs should be risk-based, tailored to the organization’s operations, and integrated with broader compliance procedures, training, and legal oversight.
This video is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.