How Do I Screen for Sanctions?
Screening is the process of checking a person or company name against global databases of sanctioned individuals, politically exposed persons, adverse media, and law enforcement watchlists. This guide covers how to set up screening in Studio and how to interpret the results.What you’ll learn
- Which screening databases are available
- How to configure a screening node in the flow builder
- How to set match thresholds
- How to test screening with known names
- How to read screening hit cards
What databases can I screen against?
Zenoo connects to multiple screening providers, each covering different databases:| Database | What it covers | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| PEP Lists | Current and former government officials, their family members, and close associates | PEPs carry higher corruption and bribery risk. Most regulations require enhanced due diligence. |
| Sanctions Lists | OFAC (US), EU Consolidated, UN Security Council, UK HMT, and 30+ country-specific lists | Dealing with sanctioned entities is a criminal offense in most jurisdictions. |
| Adverse Media | Negative news from global media sources related to financial crime, fraud, terrorism | Early warning of reputational and financial crime risk. |
| Watchlists | Law enforcement, customs, Interpol, and regulatory enforcement lists | Identifies persons of interest to authorities. |
The specific databases available depend on your screening provider. WorldCheck covers all four categories in a single API call. Other providers may require separate configurations.
How do I add screening to my flow?
Open your flow in the builder
Navigate to your project and open the flow you want to add screening to. If you do not have a flow yet, see Build Your First Flow.
Drag a Screening node onto the canvas
From the node palette on the left, find Screening under the “Checks” category. Drag it onto the canvas and connect it to the appropriate upstream node.For KYB flows, you typically place screening after the registry check (so extracted directors and UBOs are screened automatically). For KYC flows, it usually runs in parallel with identity verification.
Select your screening provider
Click the node to open its configuration panel. Under Provider, select your connected screening provider (e.g., WorldCheck, ComplyAdvantage, Sumsub).If no providers appear, you need to connect one first. See Connect Providers.
Choose databases
Select which databases to screen against:
- PEP — Politically Exposed Persons
- Sanctions — Global sanctions lists
- Adverse Media — Negative news coverage
- Watchlists — Law enforcement and customs lists
Set the match threshold
The match threshold controls how similar a name must be to a database entry to generate a hit. Set this as a percentage:
| Threshold | Effect | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 90-100% | Only exact or near-exact matches | Production with high volume, where you want fewer false positives |
| 80-89% | Catches common name variations | Balanced approach for most teams |
| 70-79% | Catches looser matches (transliterations, aliases) | Regulated environments requiring broader coverage |
| Below 70% | Very broad matching | Testing only; generates excessive false positives in production |
Save and test
Save your flow, then click Test Flow. Enter a name you know will generate a hit (your screening provider usually supplies test names in their documentation).Review the results to confirm:
- Hits are being generated at your chosen threshold
- The correct databases are being checked
- Match details include enough information for your team to review
How do I read a screening hit?
When screening finds a match, it generates a hit card with these details:- Matched name — the name in the database that triggered the match
- Match score — confidence percentage (0-100%) of how closely the names match
- Category — PEP, Sanctions, Adverse Media, or Watchlist
- Source — which specific database or list the match came from
- Details — additional context like country, date of birth, position held, or media article summaries
What happens after screening?
- No hits — the flow continues to the next node or auto-approves
- Hits found — alerts are created in Case Management for each hit type (one alert per category). Your compliance team reviews them in the alert workspace
- Screening error — if the provider is unavailable, the check fails and an API Failure alert is created