Sanctions List Distribution
Our Sanctions List Distribution service streamlines sanctions. It automatically updates public sanctions lists, validates data and standardises formats. As a shared service within our Financial Crime Compliance portfolio, you benefit from cost-effective compliance.
Benefits
Frequently Asked Questions
Who benefits most from Sanctions List Distribution? How does it help?
For cost reasons, smaller institutions often source public sanctions lists directly from official websites. Scanning for changes is time-consuming and lists may need reformatting before use in a filter. This can lead to errors and delays in list implementation.
Sanctions List Distribution helps smaller banks and corporates enhance transaction and name-screening effectiveness by providing a single source of automatically updated, structured and standardised, sanctions list data in a filter-readable format. The service includes audit logs to document the lists that were downloaded and implemented.
Individuals/teams in a banks’ sanctions compliance departments, corporate treasuries or import/export control functions find this service valuable.
Why is Swift introducing Sanctions List Distribution?
Failure to comply with sanctions regulations can result in enforcement actions, reputational damage, and other negative consequences for financial institutions. Sanction regulations compliance is complicated by frequent list updates requiring continuous changes to operational systems, and a lack of agreed standards covering sanctions list data. The lists may lack consistency and coherence in terms of what data they contain and how it’s structured.
Whether institutions source their lists directly from regulatory authorities or from third-party vendors, they often need to standardise and format the data before updating their systems. If they have multiple filters or screening operations in multiple locations, it’s even more challenging.
We launched Sanctions List Distribution to help financial institutions and corporations standardise and optimise their sanctions list updates and maintenance processes. Sanctions List Distribution provides sanctions data for download as standardised packages of commonly used public sanctions lists.
How does Swift enhance the quality and level of information in public sanctions lists?
We source public sanctions lists from the relevant authorities and standardise the format of records and fields. We clean up the lists by fixing data issues within files, and package and distribute lists in a format (OFAC XML) that can be used by various types of screening filters.
Why should I consider Sanctions List Distribution?
Sanctions List Distribution supports effective screening by providing a single, global source of commonly used public sanctions lists in a filter-readable format. It helps users to increase operational efficiency by offering standardised data and automated sanctions list updates. Sanctions List Distribution means that any bank or corporate, regardless of size, can access the latest public sanctions list data, in a ready-to-use, standardised format.
When will Sanctions List Distribution be available?
Sanctions List Distribution will be commercially available in Q4 2016. Banks and corporates will be able to download the public sanctions lists of their choice in a standardised format from the SwiftRef reference data platform.
In the future, we will also be introducing our List Management Service. This hosted service will provide a platform for managing multiple sanctions lists feeds, including public, private and PEP lists.