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Sanctions screening checks a subject against government designation lists. A match means the subject is named on a list of individuals or entities whose assets are frozen, who are barred from certain transactions, or who are otherwise restricted. The Sanctions feed also carries FATF country ratings, which score the subject’s jurisdiction rather than the subject. This page lists the sources that flag in the Sanctions category, and explains how Minerva keeps them current.

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How Minerva screens sanctions

When the Sanctions data category is selected during the search process, Minerva screens all critical globally recognized sanctions designation lists in depth, using the legal name of the individual or organization being searched. Adding more identifiers to the search increases the probability of a potential match and helps to manage false positives:
  • Date of birth, for individuals
  • Registration number or date of registration, for organizations
For all searches, the Sanctions Screening List section of the report provides a detailed listing of every source that was screened as part of the search, regardless of outcome.

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Sanctions and watchlists Minerva screens

Minerva screens these key sanctions and watchlists when the Sanctions feed is selected during a search. The list is not comprehensive.
  • Canada
    • Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List, which includes:
      • Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Regulations (JVCFOR, Canada)
      • Special Economic Measures Act List (SEMA, Canada)
      • Freezing Assets of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (FACFO Act, Canada)
      • Listed Terrorist Entities (groups and individuals) designated under the Regulations Establishing a List of Entities (RELE, Public Safety Canada; often referred to as Criminal Code or SOR 2002/284)
  • United States
    • International Trade Association Consolidated Screening List (13 key sanctions lists, including the BIS, SDN and Non-SDN Lists)
    • Consolidated Sanctions List (Non-SDN) List
    • Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List
    • Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Denied Persons List
    • FBI “Most Wanted” (Watchlists)
    • Hijack Suspects List
    • Terrorist List (includes Domestic Terrorists)
  • Australia
    • Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Consolidated Sanctions List
  • European Union
    • European External Action Service (EEAS) Sanctions List
  • FATF (Watchlists)
    • Blacklisted (High Risk) Jurisdictions
    • Greylisted (Increased Monitoring) Jurisdictions
  • France
    • France uses a single list that includes the EU (EEAS) and UN lists along with the France National Assets freezing lists found at the Ministry of Economics and Finance (France DG Tresor)
  • Switzerland
    • Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Sanctions List
  • Ukraine
    • Ukraine State Financial Monitoring Service (SDFM) Blacklist
  • United Kingdom
    • Her Majesty’s Treasury Sanctions List
  • United Nations
    • United Nations Security Council Consolidated List (UNSC List), used by UN member nations such as Canada and the EU
If your organization maintains its own screening lists, see the Custom Lists Guide for how to upload, publish, and activate them alongside these feeds.

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How Minerva updates and validates the lists

Minerva ingests and updates each list nightly, directly from its source, so the most current information is available to customers as sanctions lists change. Data ingestion logs are reviewed bi-weekly to ensure there are no loading errors, and lists are sample tested (internally audited) at least once per year.

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New list testing

When a new list is ingested, a random sample of 5-10 individuals and entities that are “positively identified” on each list is selected in the QA environment and searched, with the expected result of a Sanction flag. Reports are generated and the report audit trail is validated to ensure that the referenced list information within the report is correct. Screenshots are taken and stored with each test case. A control sample of subjects who should not appear flagged for sanctions is also reviewed. Once the testing has been approved in the QA environment, it is promoted to the production environment.

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Ongoing validation

In the production environment, for each list, a random sample of 5-10 individuals and entities (as applicable) that are “positively identified” is selected and searched, with the expected result of a Sanction flag. Where a subject has been removed, no sanction flag is expected for that search result. Reports are generated and the report audit trail is validated to ensure that the referenced list information within the report is correct. Screenshots are taken and stored with each test case. A control sample of subjects who should not appear flagged for sanctions is also reviewed.

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FATF country lists

FATF lists are updated manually. Minerva belongs to the FATF notification system and proactively checks the FATF lists monthly. Once a list is updated, Minerva uses the testing approach above to sample 2-5 individuals or entities from each added or removed country, and confirms alignment to the correct score within the risk rating (High Risk, Increased Monitoring).