What is AML screening?
Checking the people and companies you deal with against sanctions lists, politically exposed persons and adverse media.
AML screening compares the names of your customers and counterparties against three kinds of source: sanctions lists, lists of politically exposed persons (PEPs), and adverse media, meaning news reports that link someone to crimes such as fraud, corruption or money laundering.
They carry different weight. Sanctions are legal restrictions: dealing with a designated person can itself be an offence, so a true sanctions match stops the relationship. PEPs and adverse media raise the risk and call for a closer look, not an automatic refusal.
Names repeat and are spelled many ways, so screening produces possible matches that a person has to review. Good screening narrows them with details such as year of birth and country, and records why each match was accepted or dismissed. Because the lists change every day, screening does not stop at onboarding.