Global Sanctions Screening: OFAC, EU, UN and UK Name Check API

Screen any person or company name against four official sanctions lists at once: the US OFAC SDN list, the EU consolidated list, the UN consolidated list, and the UK OFSI list, all with their known aliases. You get back every possible match with a confidence score and the exact list it came from, so your team or your AI agent can flag a risky name in seconds. No API key, no signup, no subscription. You pay per name screened, cents each.

Built for KYC and AML compliance checks (Know Your Customer and Anti-Money-Laundering), customer onboarding, vendor and KYB due diligence, payment screening, and any app that needs to answer one question fast: is this name on a sanctions list anywhere that matters?

Last updated: July 2026.

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What does this Actor do?

It takes a list of names and checks each one against the OFAC, EU, UN and UK sanctions lists and their aliases using fuzzy matching. For every name it returns a graded verdict (CLEAR, POTENTIAL MATCH or LIKELY MATCH), the matched entries, a confidence score from 0 to 100, the sanctions programme, and which list flagged it. One result row per name, and it tells you which lists it screened even when the name is clean, so every result is auditable.

Which sanctions lists does it cover?

List	Authority	Coverage
OFAC SDN	US Treasury	Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons
EU Consolidated	European Union	EU financial sanctions targets
UN Consolidated	UN Security Council	Global UN sanctions targets
UK OFSI	UK Treasury	UK financial sanctions targets

Most cheap tools screen the OFAC SDN list only. Screening all four in a single pass is the clearest way to avoid missing a name that one jurisdiction lists and another does not.

How do I use it? (three steps)

1. Enter one or more names in the Names to screen field (a person or a company, one per line).
2. Optionally pick which lists to screen and set the match sensitivity (85 is a solid default).
3. Click Start. You get one result row per name: CLEAR or a graded match with scores, programmes and source lists.

Example input

{
  "names": ["Vladimir Putin", "Banco Nacional de Cuba", "Jane Ordinary Smith"],
  "lists": ["ofac", "eu", "un", "uk"],
  "threshold": 85
}

Input configuration

Field	Type	Default	What it does
names	array	-	The person or company names to screen
lists	array	all four	Which lists to check: ofac, eu, un, uk
threshold	integer	85	Match sensitivity, 50-100. Higher = fewer, stronger matches
maxMatchesPerName	integer	25	Cap on returned matches per name
refreshLists	boolean	false	Force a live re-download of every list (slower, always freshest)

What do I get back for each name?

• verdict: CLEAR, POTENTIAL MATCH, or LIKELY MATCH, the graded decision
• verdict_reason: one plain line naming the closest match, its score, and the lists it hit
• risk: CLEAR or REVIEW, a simple flag your workflow can branch on
• is_match and match_count: a quick yes or no and how many entries matched
• matched_lists: which lists flagged the name (for example OFAC SDN, EU Consolidated, UK OFSI)
• lists_screened, screened_at, threshold_pct: the audit trail, even on CLEAR results
• matches: each matched name with its confidence (0 to 100), the programme, the source list, whether it matched on the main name or an alias, and the entity_id

Example output

{
  "query": "Vladimir Putin",
  "verdict": "LIKELY MATCH",
  "verdict_reason": "Closest match 'PUTIN, Vladimir' at 100.0% on EU Consolidated, OFAC SDN, UK OFSI. Review before deciding.",
  "risk": "REVIEW",
  "is_match": true,
  "match_count": 3,
  "matched_lists": ["EU Consolidated", "OFAC SDN", "UK OFSI"],
  "lists_screened": ["OFAC SDN (US)", "EU Consolidated", "UN Consolidated", "UK OFSI"],
  "matches": [
    {
      "matched_name": "PUTIN, Vladimir Vladimirovich",
      "confidence": 100.0,
      "type": "Individual",
      "programs": "RUSSIA-EO14024",
      "source": "OFAC SDN",
      "matched_on": "primary name",
      "entity_id": "OFAC:12345"
    }
  ],
  "disclaimer": "Informational screening data only. Not legal or compliance advice."
}

Does it catch aliases and misspelled names?

Yes. It uses token sort fuzzy matching, so "putin vladimir" still matches "PUTIN, Vladimir", and near-miss spellings like "Vladimir Putn" are caught too. It also screens each list's official alias names, so a person or entity is found by their known a.k.a. names, not just their primary listing.

How do I cut down false positives?

Raise the match sensitivity. A common name like "John Smith" produces fewer weak matches at 92; a lower setting catches more spelling variants at the cost of more noise. You can also narrow which lists you screen. Tune it to fit your risk appetite.

Can I screen a whole list at once?

Yes. Pass an array of names and the Actor screens them all in one run, one result row per name. This suits bulk customer onboarding, periodic re-screening of an existing book, and vendor or supplier due diligence where you check directors and beneficial owners together.

Should I re-screen names on a schedule?

Yes, and compliance teams typically do. Sanctions lists change weekly. Set up an Apify Schedule (Console > Schedules) to re-run this Actor on your customer or vendor list monthly, and route the dataset to your systems via the API or an integration. Names that were CLEAR last quarter are not guaranteed CLEAR today.

Can AI agents call this as an MCP server?

Yes. This Actor works as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, so AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT can screen names directly inside an agent workflow. It also supports autonomous agentic payments, so AI agents can discover and pay for screening runs without an account setup. The JSON output is clean and structured, which makes it easy to drop into a fintech onboarding flow or a compliance pipeline through the API.

What does it cost?

Pay per use: a small per-name fee (with volume discounts on higher Apify plans) plus a fraction of a cent per run start. No subscription, no minimums, no key. The list data itself is free official government data.

Does it screen PEPs (politically exposed persons)?

Honest answer: this Actor screens the four official SANCTIONS lists. Many politically exposed persons appear on those lists once they are sanctioned, and those are caught, but a dedicated PEP database (holders of public office who are not sanctioned) is not included yet. If your workflow legally requires dedicated PEP coverage, use this Actor for the sanctions layer and a specialised PEP source alongside it. Dedicated PEP coverage is on our roadmap.

Who is this for?

Compliance and onboarding teams, fintech and payments builders, KYB and due-diligence analysts, and developers or AI agents that need a fast multi-list sanctions check through an API rather than a heavy SaaS dashboard.

FAQ

Is the data current? Yes. The Actor refreshes each list from its official government source, and you can force a live re-download on any run with refreshLists. If one government source is briefly unavailable, the others still run.

Is this legal or compliance advice? No. A REVIEW result is a prompt to look closer, not a final decision. Your compliance team owns the outcome.

Do you store the names I screen? The names are processed for the run and returned to you. Treat the dataset as yours.

How fast is it? A typical run finishes in seconds, screening each name against tens of thousands of entries across all four lists in one pass.

Important

This tool provides informational screening data only. It is not legal or compliance advice. A possible match is a prompt to review, not a final decision, and your own compliance team is responsible for the outcome.

Keywords: global sanctions screening, OFAC EU UN UK sanctions check, free OFAC SDN check, AML name screening tool, KYC sanctions check, KYB company sanctions check, watchlist screening API, fuzzy name matching sanctions, bulk sanctions screening, sanctions screening MCP server, agentic payments sanctions check.

Built by Veska. Free official OFAC, EU, UN and UK data. No subscription, pay per name. Agent and API ready.