Sanctions list screening We support your compliance with certainty
Our sanctions monitor FORMAT-SAM automatically compares all personal and company addresses with the selected current sanctions lists for you.
Sanctions list checks are intended to ensure that you do not conduct business with individuals, organizations, suppliers or customers who are listed on an anti-terrorism list or a sanctions list. If you provide economic goods to a sanctioned natural person or legal entity, you may be breaching law.
Beginning 2023, Germany installed a central office for the enforcement of sanctions. In parallel, the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act (AWG) was adapted. The amended Section 5a of the AWG now leads to an immediate implementation of UN embargolists into applicable law. This effectively means that german companies are obligated to comply with UN sanctions as soon as they are published.
Features
Features overview
Secure
Thanks to our content team and the algorithm, your business contacts are checked against the sanctions list data at the highest level.
Reliable
Regular automated list updates and reviews ensure you are always up to date.
Location-independent
Whether at the reception desk or while travelling – check your contacts right away on the spot, even before establishing business relations.
Traceable
Thanks to complete and gapless documentation, all checks and decisions can be traced back over years and are stored with comments in the history.
Functions
Functions
- Using FORMAT-SAM ensures compliance by automatically comparing personal and company addresses with your individual selection of sanctions lists.
- FORMAT-SAM’s search algorithm ia one of the most advanced in the entire market. It actively monitors your database, using multiple checking strategies, displaying potential matches and/or suspected cases based on adjustable match ratios. This minimizes errors and false alarms, enhancing match reliabillity and business security.
- FORMAT‘s Mission is to continiously improve dataquality by collaborating with national and internation authourities. Our dedicated Content Team reviews sanctionlists and regulations immediately after release of updates and cross checks the contained information with legally binding documents. We also feedback any flaws and errors back to authorities. This ensures that our customers are always operating on basis of most current and reliable data. Sanctions list updates are implemented into FORMAT-SAM within 24 hours fully automated with no impact to customer operations.
AVA: Extending your knowledge base
- AVA (Advanced Visual Analyzer for Entities and Relationship)) is an optional feature further extending our customers knowledge base. AVA provides our customers with a clear and conscise visualization of entities peviously scanned in FORMAT-SAM.
- As an option, AVA, in collaboration with Dow Jones Risk & Compliance (SCO), visualizes business connections a sanctioned entity has with uncritical and/or non-sanctioned entities.
Technical
functions
- Language: English / German (others upon request)
- Capable of processing different data formats (e.g. CSV, XML, ODBC, SOAP)
- Returns validated results
- Update monitoring / history
- Decision and decision matrix logged
Our service for you
FORMAT Content-Team
We have made it our mission to continuously improve the quality of our data in cooperation with national and international authorities. To this end, we have formed our own content team, which checks the sanctions lists and regulations and compares the electronically provided information with legally binding documents – thus ensuring that we offer reliable data. We make this data available fully automatically within 24 hours of any changes.
Feel free to use our sanctions list overview to find out which sanctions lists can be booked in FORMAT-SAM.
Video
Module introduction
AVA: Advanced Visual Analyzer for Entities and Relationship
- AVA (Advanced Visual Analyzer for Entities and Relationship) provides our customers with a transparent and concise display of their relationships with other entities and people. This is provided for all entities previously checked through FORMAT-SAM sanctions monitor.
- Every sanction is based on a legislation act. AVA provides our customers with a concise summary of these. Access to legal documentation is provided conviently via links. EVA gathers widespread data from the internet (Websites, Wiki, etc.) and displays these in a concise manner contributing to enhanced profiling of entities.
- The requirement to provide extensive information on entities to relevant authorities is steadily growing and is becoming increasingly crucial when conducting business.
Dow Jones SCO optional add on
- FORMAT utilizes Dow Jones Risk & Compliance data to visualize business connections of an sanctioned entity with other entities or persons regardless of their criticality in terms of compliance.
- In particular, ownership structures can be traced using the Dow Jones Sanctions Control & Ownership (SCO) data package. The SCO data package is easily connectable. Subscription to Dow Jones SCO is a requirement.
Workflow
Assessment of suspected cases within FORMAT-SAM
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Who must be screened against a sanctions list?
All individuals, organisations, suppliers and customers with whom a company intends to enter into business relations must be screened against sanctions lists. The aim is to ensure that no business is conducted with sanctioned natural or legal persons listed on counter‑terrorism or sanctions lists. This serves to ensure compliance with statutory requirements and to avoid potential breaches of the law.
What are the consequences if I violate sanctions lists?
A breach of sanctions lists can have serious legal and financial consequences for companies and individuals, including:
- Fines and penalties: companies may face substantial monetary penalties, which can vary significantly depending on the severity of the breach.
- Criminal consequences: in serious cases, a breach may be prosecuted under criminal law, potentially resulting in custodial sentences for those responsible.
- Reputational damage: a violation can undermine business partners’ trust and cause long‑term harm to the company.
- Restrictions on international trade: companies that violate sanctions lists may be excluded from international markets or placed on blacklists themselves.
To avoid these consequences, it is important to screen sanctions lists regularly, establish internal control systems, and train your staff in compliance and sanctions screening.
Is my company required to screen against sanctions lists?
Whether your company must conduct sanctions list screening depends on the nature of your business activities, your industry, and the legal requirements in your country. As a general rule, companies engaged in international business—particularly export or import—as well as financial service providers, banks and insurers are usually required to carry out sanctions screening.
To determine this, you should:
- Check legal requirements: review relevant regulations such as EU regulations, the Foreign Trade and Payments Act (AWG), or specific national rules.
- Analyse the nature of your business relationships: assess whether your customers, suppliers or business partners could be from sanctioned countries.
- Observe industry guidelines: certain sectors such as finance, trade or logistics are often particularly regulated.
If you operate internationally or deal in sensitive products, regular screening of sanctions lists is not only a legal obligation but also an important step in risk mitigation and maintaining compliance standards.
What is a sanctions list?
A sanctions list is an official list compiled by governments or international organisations such as the United Nations. It contains the names of individuals, organisations, companies and other entities that have been designated for sanctions, for example due to terrorism, money laundering or other criminal offences. Businesses are obliged to ensure they do not enter into economic or business relationships with listed parties, as doing so may constitute a breach of the law.
What are the benefits of sanctions list screening with FORMAT‑SAM
- FORMAT‑SAM provides secure, reliable, location‑independent sanctions list screening.
- Regular automated list updates and a complete audit trail keep organisations up to date and make decisions transparently traceable.
- The software also enables rapid screening before entering into a business relationship.
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