Global Sanctions Screener - OFAC, EU, UN, UK, Canada
Global Sanctions Screener — OFAC, EU, UN, UK, Canada
Ingest and screen against six major international sanctions lists: OFAC SDN (19,000 entries), UK FCDO (15,000), UN Security Council (1,000), EU Financial Sanctions File (6,000), Canada SEMA (5,400), and Australia DFAT (3,700). Three operating modes: bulk list ingest, fuzzy name matching (Dice coefficient scoring), and incremental diff for new designations. Approximately 50,000 total records across all lists.
What does the Global Sanctions Screener do?
- Ingest mode — Downloads and structures one or more sanctions lists as normalized JSON records
- Screen mode — Fuzzy-matches query names against selected lists using Dice coefficient scoring (0–100); configurable minimum match score
- Diff mode — Returns new designations added since the last run for monitoring workflows
- Returns core entity fields consistent across lists: primary name, aliases, nationality, date of birth, addresses, identifying documents, sanctions programs, and designation date
- Each source list is treated independently — an entity appearing on both OFAC and UK FCDO lists produces two records, one per
source_listvalue
What data does it extract?
Core entity fields (all modes)
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
source_list |
List identifier: OFAC_SDN, UK_FCDO, UN_SC, EU_FSF, CA_SEMA, AU_DFAT |
source_list_id |
Entity ID within the source list |
entity_type |
individual, entity, or vessel |
primary_name |
Primary sanctioned name |
alias_names |
Array of known aliases |
nationalities |
Array of nationalities |
citizenship |
Array of citizenships |
date_of_birth |
Date of birth (individuals) |
place_of_birth |
Place of birth (individuals) |
addresses |
Array of known addresses |
identifying_documents |
Array of passport/ID document references |
sanctions_programs |
Array of sanctions program codes |
designation_date |
Date the entity was designated |
remarks |
Source list remarks and notes |
vessel_details |
Vessel-specific fields (flag, IMO, type) for vessel entries |
scraped_at |
Scrape timestamp (ISO 8601) |
Additional fields for screen mode
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
query_term |
The name submitted for screening |
match_score |
Dice coefficient match score (0–100) |
match_field |
Which field matched (primary_name, alias_names, etc.) |
match_reason |
Explanation of the match |
Typical run costs
| Use case | Approx records | Approx cost |
|---|---|---|
| OFAC SDN only (~19k records) | ~19,000 | ~$19 + $0.10 |
| All 6 lists (~50k records) | ~50,000 | ~$50 + $0.10 |
| Screen 10 names against all lists | ≤600 matches | ~$0.60 + $0.10 |
| Daily diff run (new designations only) | Typically <100 | Under $1 |
Pricing is pay-per-record at $0.001 per event plus $0.10 per run start. The price coefficient for this actor reflects the compliance-grade value of the data.
How to use it
Choose a mode. For ingest_lists, select which lists to download. For screen_queries, provide a queries array of names to match and set minMatchScore (default 75). For new_designations_diff, the actor returns only records added since the prior run.
| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
mode |
string | ingest_lists |
ingest_lists, screen_queries, or new_designations_diff |
lists |
array | all lists | List codes: OFAC_SDN, UK_FCDO, UN_SC, EU_FSF, CA_SEMA, AU_DFAT |
queries |
array | — | Name strings to screen (screen mode only) |
minMatchScore |
integer | 75 |
Minimum Dice coefficient score to return a match (0–100) |
includeAliases |
boolean | true |
Include alias fields in output |
maxItems |
integer | — | Maximum records to return |
Use cases
- KYC and AML onboarding screening — Screen counterparty names against all six lists simultaneously; set
minMatchScore: 80for high-confidence matches andincludeAliases: trueto catch name variants. - Daily sanctions monitoring — Use
new_designations_diffmode on a daily schedule to receive only newly designated entities; a typical diff run costs under $1. - Compliance database refresh — Use
ingest_liststo build or refresh an internal sanctions database; run OFAC-only first (~$19) then add additional lists incrementally. - Vessel and trade compliance — Filter results on
entity_type: vesselto screen counterparties in shipping and trade finance against vessel sanctions programs. - Academic and policy research — Analyze designation patterns, nationalities, and sanctions program usage across all six lists for sanctions effectiveness research.
Data sources and freshness
| List | Source | Update frequency |
|---|---|---|
| OFAC SDN | OFAC directly | Daily |
| UK FCDO | FCDO directly | Weekly |
| UN Security Council | UN directly | As designated |
| EU Financial Sanctions File | OpenSanctions | Typically within 24 hours of EU FSF update |
| Canada SEMA | OpenSanctions | Typically within 24 hours of OSFI update |
| Australia DFAT | OpenSanctions | Typically within 24 hours of DFAT update |
EU, Canada, and Australia data is re-published by OpenSanctions typically within 24 hours of the source list update. OFAC and UK lists are accessed directly.
FAQ
If an entity is on both OFAC and UK FCDO, does it appear once or twice?
Twice. Each source list is treated independently — an entity designated on both OFAC SDN and UK FCDO appears as two records, one with source_list: OFAC_SDN and one with source_list: UK_FCDO. This allows per-list compliance reporting and makes the origin of each record unambiguous.
What is the Dice coefficient and how should I set the threshold? The Dice coefficient measures string overlap between your query name and the candidate name (0 = no match, 100 = exact match). The default threshold of 75 balances recall (catching transliterated or abbreviated names) against precision (avoiding false positives). For high-stakes compliance screening, lower to 65–70 and review all results; for automated first-pass filtering, 80+ reduces manual review volume.
Results are available for export in JSON, CSV, and Excel formats from the Apify dataset tab.
