# Sanctions lists

> Screen companies and individuals against the European Union consolidated sanctions list and the US OFAC SDN list through a REST API.

The European Union consolidated sanctions list contains persons and entities subject to restrictive measures. Together with the US OFAC SDN list it forms the basis of sanctions screening.

## What the register contains
- Match of the entity or person name against a sanctions list
- Match score, so a certain match can be told apart from mere name similarity
- The programme under which the sanctions were imposed
- Date of listing

## Fields we return

| Field | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `total_hits` | Total number of matches across both lists. |
| `eu_fsf_hits` | Array of matches against the EU consolidated sanctions list. |
| `ofac_hits` | Array of matches against the OFAC lists. |
| `whole_name` | The sanctioned name the match was made against. |
| `score` | Name match score between 0 and 1. |
| `regulation_ref` | Reference to the regulation imposing the sanction. |
| `external_id` | Identifier of the record in the source list. |

## How to request the data

```http
GET /v1/company/ico/51636549?scope=sanctions

{
  "sanctions": {
    "eu_fsf_hits": [],
    "ofac_hits": [],
    "total_hits": 0
  }
}
```

## How often we update

Daily, each list separately. Sanctions lists change irregularly and a change can happen overnight, so we pull them every night.

## What it is used for

Sanctions screening is a mandatory part of AML processes in the financial sector and increasingly a routine part of onboarding business partners.

The sanctions.match webhook alerts you when an entity already in your database is added to a list – a situation a quarterly manual review catches far too late.

## Frequently asked questions

### Why return a match score instead of just yes or no?

Transliterations from Cyrillic and Arabic differ across lists, so an exact character match would miss genuine hits. A score lets you set your own threshold and review borderline cases by hand.

### Do you screen natural persons too?

Yes. Sanctions lists contain both persons and entities, and screening covers directors and beneficial owners where they are known for the company.