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SANCTIONS SCREENING

40+ sanctions lists.
The risk isn’t on any of them.

Most sanctions violations don’t involve a direct SDN match. They involve entities connected to sanctioned parties through ownership chains, shared officers, and corporate structures that name-based screening structurally misses. Sayari maps the network behind the name, applying entity resolution and ownership tracing before list matching.

See Sayari in action

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91%
agree siloed risk management is redundant and converging
86%
report moving toward single integrated platform
81%
report only partially or not integrated at all
65%
triggered by need for enhanced risk visibility
THE PROBLEM

List-only screening misses the ownership rule

List-only screening

Misses the 50%+ ownership rule. Entities not on any sanctions list but controlled by SDNs are structurally invisible to traditional list matching. The entity may be clean, but its owner is sanctioned.

No network context

Can’t see shared officers, shared addresses, or corporate overlap with sanctioned entities. Ownership chains and corporate structure relationships that create sanctions exposure remain hidden.

Stale screening

Annual reviews miss mid-cycle designation changes and new sanctions packages. Designations published between screening windows go undetected until the next scheduled review cycle.

THE SAYARI APPROACH

Screen the ownership chain, not just the watchlist

Entity resolution

Resolve counterparty identity across 250+ jurisdictions before screening. Ensure you’re matching against the correct legal entity, even when corporate structures span multiple countries.

Ownership chain screening

Apply OFAC 50% rule automatically. Trace ownership to identify SDN-controlled entities that don’t appear on any sanctions list. Catch control relationships that name-based screening misses entirely.

Continuous monitoring

4-hour update cycle across 40+ sanctions lists with real-time alerts. New designations and ownership changes are caught immediately, not between annual review windows.

HOW IT WORKS

Entity resolution + ownership screening + 50% rule automation

01

Submit

Upload entity or counterparty list to Sayari Graph

02

Resolve

Sayari resolves identity and maps ownership chains across jurisdictions

03

Apply Rule

50% rule applied automatically across ownership structures

04

Monitor

Ongoing monitoring catches new designations and ownership changes

BY THE NUMBERS

Risk beyond the list: ownership and integration

91%
agree siloed risk management is redundant
Sayari Global Executive Survey, 2025
86%
moving toward single integrated platform
Sayari Global Executive Survey, 2025
81%
still only partially or not integrated
Sayari Global Executive Survey, 2025
65%
triggered by need for visibility
Sayari Global Executive Survey, 2025
“Automated 50% rule application revealed sanctions exposure in our supply chain that name-only lists would have missed entirely. Our compliance team now screens the network, not just the SDN list.”
Sanctions Compliance Officer, Financial Services
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

Ownership-aware sanctions screening

SAYARI GRAPH

Entity resolution and ownership mapping

Resolve identity across 250+ jurisdictions and map beneficial ownership structures. Apply the 50% rule automatically before screening against sanctions lists.

Explore Graph
SAYARI GUIDE

Workflow orchestration

Automate sanctions screening workflows. Route ownership-rule matches to investigation, manage false positives, and document screening decisions for audit.

Explore Guide
SAYARI SIGNAL

Continuous monitoring and alerts

Monitor counterparties and ownership networks for new OFAC designations. Real-time alerts across 40+ sanctions lists with 4-hour update cycle.

Explore Signal
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Sanctions screening FAQ

The OFAC 50% rule means that if a sanctioned entity (SDN) owns or controls 50% or more of another entity, that other entity is also subject to sanctions, even if it’s not on any list. Most sanctions violations involve this ownership relationship, not direct name matches. Sayari automatically traces ownership chains and applies the 50% rule, catching control relationships that traditional list-only screening cannot detect.

Entity resolution ensures you’re screening the correct legal entity, even across multiple countries and corporate structures. A counterparty might be registered under different legal names, languages, transliterations, or corporate jurisdictions. Sayari resolves these variations to the true underlying entity before checking against sanctions lists, preventing missed matches due to corporate structure variation.

Sayari updates 40+ sanctions lists every 4 hours, including OFAC SDN, OFAC BIS lists, EU lists, UN lists, and 36+ additional global sanctions designations. This 4-hour cycle means new designations are captured immediately, not on annual review cycles. You’re covered for designations published on weekends, holidays, or outside standard business hours.

Yes. Sayari maps entity ownership across 250+ jurisdictions, including corporate registries, beneficial ownership disclosures, and court filings globally. This means you can screen counterparties with complex multinational corporate structures, tracing ownership chains across borders and applying OFAC rules consistently.

After initial screening, Sayari Signal monitors your counterparties and their ownership networks for new designations and ownership changes. When someone on a sanctions list changes ownership or a new person joins their network, you’re alerted immediately. This prevents missed sanctions exposure from ownership changes that occur after onboarding.

Screen the ownership chain. Not just the watchlist.

See how ownership mapping and the 50% rule reveal sanctions exposure that traditional list-only screening misses.

Request a Demo