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Sanctions Screening API

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Check a name against the OFAC, UN, EU and UK sanctions lists in one API call.

Sanctions Screening is an OFAC API that checks a person, company or vessel name against the US Treasury OFAC SDN and Consolidated lists, the UN Security Council Consolidated List, the EU consolidated financial sanctions list and the UK Sanctions List. It returns scored JSON matches with the list each hit came from, aliases, dates of birth, addresses and sanctions programs so you can decide whether to block or review.

Try it — live request, no key required

Request
GETapi.apiverve.com/v1/sanctionscreening?name=Banco%20Nacional%20de%20Cuba
Query parameters
Verification
Format

No key required to try it. Get a key to use it in your app.

Example
{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "query": "Banco Nacional de Cuba",
    "matched": true,
    "matchCount": 1,
    "verdict": "exact",
    "topScore": 1,
    "results": [
      {
        "uid": 306,
        "name": "BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA",
        "type": "entity",
        "score": 1,
        "confidence": "exact",
        "matchedOn": "BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA",
        "matchedVia": "primary",
        "isWeakAlias": false,
        "programs": [
          "CUBA"
        ],
        "title": null,
        "aka": [
          {
            "name": "BNC",
            "type": "aka",
            "strength": "weak"
          },
          {
            "name": "NATIONAL BANK OF CUBA",
            "type": "aka",
            "strength": "strong"
          }
        ],
        "dateOfBirth": [],
        "placeOfBirth": [],
        "nationalities": [],
        "citizenships": [],
        "addresses": [
          {
            "address1": "Zweierstrasse 35",
            "city": "Zurich",
            "postalCode": "CH-8022",
            "country": "Switzerland"
          },
          {
            "address1": "Avenida de Concha Espina 8",
            "city": "Madrid",
            "postalCode": "E-28036",
            "country": "Spain"
          },
          {
            "address1": "Dai-Ichi Bldg. 6th Floor, 10-2 Nihombashi, 2-chome, Chuo-ku",
            "city": "Tokyo",
            "postalCode": "103",
            "country": "Japan"
          },
          {
            "address1": "Federico Boyd Avenue & 51 Street",
            "city": "Panama City",
            "country": "Panama"
          }
        ],
        "ids": [],
        "remarks": null,
        "source": "ofac_sdn",
        "sourceId": "306",
        "listedOn": null
      }
    ],
    "matchedLists": [
      "ofac_sdn"
    ],
    "list": {
      "source": "OFAC SDN",
      "authority": "US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control",
      "publishDate": "10/21/2026",
      "recordCount": 19471,
      "lastUpdated": "2026-10-22T10:00:41.118Z"
    },
    "lists": [
      {
        "code": "ofac_sdn",
        "source": "OFAC SDN",
        "authority": "US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control",
        "publishDate": "10/21/2026",
        "recordCount": 19471,
        "lastUpdated": "2026-10-22T10:00:41.118Z"
      },
      {
        "code": "ofac_cons",
        "source": "OFAC Consolidated (non-SDN)",
        "authority": "US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control",
        "publishDate": "10/19/2026",
        "recordCount": 486,
        "lastUpdated": "2026-10-22T10:01:02.540Z"
      },
      {
        "code": "un",
        "source": "UN Security Council Consolidated List",
        "authority": "United Nations Security Council",
        "publishDate": "2026-10-21",
        "recordCount": 1010,
        "lastUpdated": "2026-10-22T10:01:09.876Z"
      },
      {
        "code": "eu",
        "source": "EU Consolidated Financial Sanctions List",
        "authority": "European Union (European Commission, Financial Sanctions Files)",
        "publishDate": "2026-10-15",
        "recordCount": 6234,
        "lastUpdated": "2026-10-22T10:01:31.204Z"
      },
      {
        "code": "uk",
        "source": "UK Sanctions List",
        "authority": "UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office",
        "publishDate": "2026-10-16",
        "recordCount": 6408,
        "lastUpdated": "2026-10-22T10:01:52.663Z"
      }
    ]
  }
}

About the Sanctions Screening API

Sanctions Screening works by matching your query against every name and alias on five official government lists, each refreshed daily from the publisher's own file, using fuzzy name matching built for transliterated names. Sanctioned individuals are listed under many spellings, so exact comparison misses them. Each result carries a confidence score, the alias it matched on and the list it came from, letting you tune between catching more names and reviewing fewer false positives. It covers government sanctions lists only: it does not screen politically exposed persons (PEPs) or adverse media.

What people use it for

Customer Account Onboarding
Fintech platforms run an OFAC check on applicant names during registration, alongside the UN, EU and UK lists, and pause signup if the match verdict returns high or exact confidence.
Cross-Border Wire Review
Flag beneficiary and originator names before processing international payments when screening detects matching sanctions entries and high confidence scores.
Cargo Vessel Chartering
When booking cargo carriers, maritime brokers screen vessel names against OFAC and UK ship designations to verify no sanctions programs or blocked entities match the ship.
Vendor Procurement Auditing
To avoid illegal supplier contracts, corporate procurement teams screen new vendor entity names against OFAC, UN, EU and UK records before issuing purchase orders or signing agreements.

Ways to call it

One endpoint, many ways in — REST with JSON, XML, YAML and CSV, plus GraphQL and an MCP interface for AI agents.

JSON
Default REST response
XML
Markup format
YAML
Human-readable
CSV
Tabular export
Beta
GraphQL
Query language
New
MCP
For AI agents
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How it compares

Side by side with the tools people weigh Sanctions Screening against — what each one is better at, in plain terms.

APIVerve vs OpenSanctions →

Other ways to use Sanctions Screening

Same data, same APIVerve account, same credit balance — one key works on all of them.

Give it to an AI agentConnect over MCP and your agent calls it as a native tool — Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT.on VerveKit Google Sheets or ExcelA =VERVE() formula fills a column — no script, no export, recalculates in place.on VerveSheets Ground an agent on itA cited, machine-checkable fact your model can't produce on its own.on VerveContext

Questions.

Common questions about the Sanctions Screening API.

Read the docs →
Where does the sanctions data come from, and how often is it updated?
Every list comes straight from its publisher: the US Treasury OFAC SDN and Consolidated (non-SDN) lists, the UN Security Council Consolidated List, the EU consolidated financial sanctions file and the UK Sanctions List from the FCDO. Each is checked daily and updated independently, and every response shows each list's publish date and record count. The UK list replaced OFSI's Consolidated List, which closed on 28 January 2026.
What would 5,000 sanctions screenings a month cost me?
Sanctions Screening uses 20 credits per call. Running 5,000 screenings requires 100,000 credits, using half of the Starter plan's 200,000 monthly credits, which works out to about $0.003 per screening. The Free plan provides 10 screenings per month for testing.
Are dates of birth and addresses included on the Free plan?
No, identifying details such as dates of birth, addresses, published identity numbers, and alias lists are premium fields. The Free plan returns match indicators, score, and sanctions programs, while any paid plan unlocks the complete entry details and filtering parameters.
Can I screen businesses and vessels, or only individuals?
You can screen people, organizations and ships. Entries are typed as individuals, entities, vessels or aircraft. Every plan searches all records across all lists at once and can pick which lists to screen with the lists parameter; paid plans can also restrict a query to a single entry type.
How does screening handle alternate spellings or transliterated names?
The API compares queries against all primary names and aliases using fuzzy matching designed for transliterations. Results return confidence scores and match details, letting you spot near-matches without relying on an exact character-for-character spelling.
Does it screen PEPs or adverse media?
No. Sanctions Screening checks government sanctions lists only: OFAC SDN and Consolidated, UN, EU and UK. It has no politically exposed persons (PEP) data and no adverse media, so if your compliance program needs those checks you will need a separate source for them.
Can I integrate screening results into my compliance and onboarding workflows?
Yes, commercial onboarding and screening workflows are supported on any paid plan. The Free plan is reserved for non-commercial testing. You may use match records inside your own systems, but you cannot redistribute or resell the underlying sanctions data as-is.
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