UK Sanctions List update – changes in effect from February 2022

Businesses and organisations that conduct sanctions checks on their customers, business partners and affiliates are urged to familiarise themselves with the new format, take steps to confirm that automated screening processes are correctly configured for the updated data fields and ensure documented compliance policies are refreshed. 

The key changes include:

• Addition of an Alias or Also Known As (AKA) strength indication for UN listings. A “weak AKA” is a term for a relatively broad or generic alias that may generate a large number of false hits. Weak AKAs include nicknames, noms-de-guerre, and unusually common acronyms.
• Addition of a “Name type” field that will state whether the name(s) given for a listed individual is a Primary name, Primary name variation, or Alias.
• Additional information will be provided to assist with checking passport numbers and national identity numbers.

OFSI’s consolidated list will be updated to align with the UK Sanctions List and will publish its own guidance shortly

It is anticipated that the additional fields of data and reformatted structure will enable better level of accuracy of sanctions screening checks and consistency between the UK Sanctions List and OFSI consolidated lists.