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Client screening

Obtain client screening reports checking against global risk and compliance data, including government sanctions, Politically Exposed Persons, a wide range of watch lists and negative news profiles.

Client screenings currently unavilable

We are currently experiencing an issue with the client screening Service which our suppliers are working to rectify. We hope to have the service back soon, but cannot give a definite timescale. Please check this page daily if your request is urgent. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Use our client screening service to check individuals or entities against global risk and compliance data. This service is free of charge but only available for ICAEW members and ACA students. We will carry out a maximum of three name checks from a single firm or member per week.
Updates to sanctions

Client screening reports are produced using data supplied from the Dow Jones Risk & Compliance database. Dow Jones aims to process updates to priority sanctions lists, which include sanctions lists published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, UN, EU or HM Treasury, within 24 business hours of the data being published or the sanctions coming into force if issued during working hours Monday to Friday.

Names of individuals or entities can be checked against a variety of watchlists which identify restricted, sanctioned, prohibited and high-risk individuals and businesses. This includes known terrorists, money launderers, fraudsters and politically exposed persons (PEPs).

Client screening reports are produced using data supplied from the Dow Jones Risk & Compliance database.

Help and support

  • How many reports can I request?

    A maximum of three names (either individuals or entities) per calendar week from a single firm or member may be checked free of charge using our service.

    The client screening service is limited to three searches per calendar week at the request of our suppliers as it is only intended as an ad-hoc service. The deadline for the week's submissions is 5pm Friday. Any requests received by us after this point will count towards your allocation for the next week.

    Please note if you submit before the deadline on Friday we might not send you a report until Monday, but you would still be entitled to three client screening requests for the new week.

  • What will I receive once my search is completed?

    We will supply a list, in PDF format, of closely matching names that are on the Dow Jones Risk & Compliance database (see our example search results). In the event that there are no matches, we will supply a search report showing this for your records. If there is a precise and unique match with the details that you have asked us to search for, we will supply a full report as part of the results that we send to you. Otherwise, we ask that you identify any matches and request a full report from us (see example report).

    All the documents supplied will include confirmation of the time and date that the search was run.

  • What does the database cover?

    The Dow Jones Risk & Compliance database holds the names of individuals, companies and other entities (e.g. ships) that are contained in over 700 current international official sanctions, risk or exclusion lists, covering 80 jurisdictions. This includes watchlists issued by law enforcement agencies, warning lists published by regulatory authorities and trade restriction lists.

    Examples of lists included are the HM Treasury sanctions list, the sanctions list from the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the lists produced by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

    The database also includes the details of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and their relatives or close associates.

  • What does the database cover?

    Profiles are reviewed and updated when a new item of information – such as a significant stage of criminal proceedings - is identified by the updating team.

    The information contained in the profiles is derived from news articles published by various media providers around the world. It is not an exhaustive source of information about the individual or any related allegations of criminal activity, but reflects references in those articles to alleged criminal misconduct. The database may not reflect all or subsequent developments in a particular criminal matter; users are advised to conduct a further inquiry for any information that post-dates the date on which the search result was last modified.

  • Is this a client identity verification service?

    No. This service checks the names of individuals or organisations against industry, law and regulatory watchlists but it does not verify client identities. However, any negative data or risks identified (e.g. politically exposed persons) through this service can help you in compiling a picture of your client.

    For more information on client identity verification, please refer to the guidance on Electronic client identification resources, the CCAB money laundering guidance and the additional guidance on money laundering from ICAEW.

  • Is this a criminal record check?

    No. There is no publicly available list or database of UK criminal convictions so it is not possible to run a criminal record check.

    If you were intending to use this service to run a criminal record check for a potential employee you may be able to use the UK government's Disclosure and Barring Service.

  • Is this the same service that you offered between 2009 and 2012?

    No. The service we are providing today comes from a new supplier and the watch lists searched by this product are different to the product we used previously.

Search options

You can choose to run a 'near' search, which finds close and feasible matches, or a 'precise' search, which finds the closest matches to a name. The default option is 'near' search.

  • Precise

    The search type Precise looks for exact and very close matches to the search criteria. Very close matches are those where the first name and surname are inverted or the first name searched is in the middle name field on a profile.

    For example:

    Search Match %
    David Cameron
    David Cameron 100%
    David Cameron
    David William Donald Cameron
    100%
    David Cameron
    Bruce David Cameron
    96%

    Precise does not look for linguistic matches.

    Precise does not find a match if there are typos in the searched name or if characters are transposed between the name searched and the name on the profiles.

    For example searching Sani Abatcha would not find the record for Sani Abacha, searching David Caberon/David Camreon would not find the profile for David Cameron, David William Donald Cameron or Bruce David Cameron.

    Precise is useful for focusing on the closest match to a name.

  • Near

    The search type Near goes beyond Precise to look for linguistic matches such as phonetic and transcription variations and long and short forms of names. It can match common numbers with words and symbols in entity names. It can also match typos in words of a certain length.

    For example:

    Variation Search
    Match %
    Phonetic
    Elizabeth Whyte
    Elisabeth Whyte
    96%
    Transcription
    Boris Jelzin
    Boris Eltsin
    94%
    Transcription
    Abdülaziz Buteflika
    Abdelaziz Bouteflika
    90%
    Transcription
    Mijaíl Sergéyevich Gorbachov
    Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev
    92%
    Transcription
    Lyu Youqing
    Lu Youqing
    94%
    Transcription
    Somsak Kietsuranon
    Somsak Kiatsuranont
    94% 
    Short/long form
    Joe Allman
    Joseph Allman
    90%
    Entity abbreviation
    Aberdeen Management Ltd.
     Aberdeen Management Limited
    98%
    Common number/symbols
    1st Transport Management OJSC
    First Transport Management OJSC
    99%
    Typo*
    David Caberon
    David Cameron
    77%

    *Typos are only tolerated on names over five characters long if another name element is a 100% match. Otherwise typos are only tolerated on Near on name elements over seven characters long.

    On the Search tab, if one element of a person’s name is entered Near will look for that name in the Surname field.

    Please note: owing to the characteristics of different scripts, not all of the above variations apply to all scripts.

    Near is recommended to take advantage of the linguistic search capability.

    Near finds close and feasible matches.

Order form

If you need to screen a business, please see our screen an entity page.

Entities

If you need to screen a business, please see our screen an entity page.

Screen an entity