Equifax leverages multiple databases, including regulatory authority lists, sanctions and embargo lists, enforcement lists, and global news media articles. These sources create a global view of compliance-related screening to cover your compliance program needs.
We designed risk categories to support a risk-based approach for an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program. This allows a financial institution to take advantage of flexible, effective, and proportionate risk models.
Equifax currently uses these data source categories for screening purposes:
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Global Sanctions
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Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs)
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Enforcement
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High Risk Business
|
Source category |
Description |
Included lists |
|---|---|---|
|
Global Sanctions |
Covers the sanctions and terrorism lists published by governments and international organizations. Includes lists published by the FinCEN, FCA, EU, HMT, and UN. It also covers the lists published by each country. |
OFAC USDS Canada UN Australia UAE Singapore Malaysia Japan Hong Kong Luxemburg France Germany UK-HMT EU |
|
PEPs |
Covers screening against politically exposed persons, either domestic or international. |
LexisNexis (LN) - PEP CIA Nomino |
|
Enforcements |
Covers the risk of individuals and businesses with enforcement actions against them. |
FBI Most Wanted US states DEA (US) SAM (US) BIS (US) SEC (US) |
|
High Risk Business |
Businesses involved in certain products or services that can contribute to a higher risk of money laundering (ML) or terrorist financing (TF) cases. |
US - Fincen MSB Panama papers Paradise papers Bahama papers Offshore leaks |
This section contains a glossary of the individual data sources ingested by AML Compliance Solutions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions. The sanctions are based on US foreign policy and national security goals against:
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Targeted foreign countries and regimes
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Terrorists
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International narcotics traffickers
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Those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
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Any other threats to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) implements certain US government sanctions against Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria pursuant to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). These sanctions are implemented either unilaterally or to implement United Nations Security Council Resolutions. This includes a Denied Persons list, Entity list, and Unverified list.
The US Department of State (DOS) runs an Economic Sanctions Program that includes lists based on recent US foreign policies on countries, individuals, organizations, or other groups. These lists are updated regularly.
We use market leading partner-sourced data to offer a risk-based approach to cover financial institutions from PEP related risks. Person and business data are both covered for screening and monitoring. The PEP source also includes the Nomino Lower Level PEPs list.
The European Union (EU) Sanctions List is a consolidated list of countries, entities, and individuals engaged in or suspected of money laundering or terrorism financing activities. As such, they are subject to economic sanctions by the EU. EU Sanctions are linked to United Nations Security Council Resolutions. However, the EU imposes its own autonomous sanctions — against Russia and Iran, for example — in line with its foreign policy objectives.
His Majesty's Treasury (HMT) Sanctions List is a list of individuals and entities subject to certain financial restrictions as part of the UK government domestic counter-terrorism regime policy. It also includes those individuals prohibited by the United Nations and/or European Union.
United Nations (UN)-issued list of countries and individuals that face economic, trading, or diplomatic limitations due to their criminal or peace-violating activity.
We support global sanctions lists from these countries:
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Australia: AUS Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
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Canada: Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)
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France: Minstere de L'Economie
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Japan: Japanese Ministry of Finance
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Hong Kong: Hong Kong Monetary Authority
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Luxembourg: Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier Luxembourg Sanctions
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Malaysia: Ministry of Home Affairs
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Germany: Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA)
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Singapore: Attorney General's Chambers - Terrorism
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United Arab Emirates (UAE): Emirates News Agency
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FBI Most Wanted (US)
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System for Award Management (SAM) - General Service Administration (GSA)
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System for Award Management (SAM) - Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
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Marijuana-related business or person
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US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) - Money Services Business (MSB)
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Panama Paper - International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)
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Paradise Paper - ICIJ
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Bahama Paper - ICIJ
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Offshore Leaks - ICIJ
Subscribers can screen against their own 314(a) list data. This data is periodically updated.
Subscribers can screen against their own Hotlist data for specific customer or transaction data sets.
Our Adverse Media solution consists of two types of sources: AI scraped media (international, local, and blogs) and manually ingested government or regulatory sources.
Our Adverse Media solution scrapes articles from over 11,000 sources. These sources include international websites, regional and local news sites, and government websites.
We periodically review the sources covered by our Adverse Media solution. We remove or rectify any sources that have closed down, merged, or rebranded. New sources are added based on targeted improvements or feedback from our active client base. For a new source to be added to our coverage, it must satisfy our internal assessment criteria:
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The source should publish negative news articles that would help our clients identify risks related to financial crime.
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The source should not be found to propagate false information, conspiracies or satire.
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The source must publish its own material and not rely on syndicated content.
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Rankings and traffic to the source indicate it is credible.
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The ownership information, editorial, and management team are verified.
The following list shows the approximate number of global sources we use per country or region:
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USA: 3000+
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Brazil: 1000+
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Canada: 700+
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Mexico: 400+
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Venezuela: 100+
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Argentina: 20-100
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Colombia: 20-100
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Chile: 20-100
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Cuba: 20-100
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Bolivia: 20-100
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Panama: 20-100
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Guatemala: 20-100
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Ecuador: 20-100
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Peru: 20-100
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Dominican Republic: 20-100
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Paraguay: 10-20
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Puerto Rico: 10-20
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Costa Rica: 10-20
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El Salvador: 10-20
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Nicaragua: 10-20
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Belize: 10-20
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Bermuda: 10-20
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Haiti: 10-20
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All other countries in the Americas: an average of 3 sources
We use a manual data load process to capture relevant data from governmental, global, and regulatory websites. These data sources are:
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DEA press releases
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Department of Justice (DOJ) press releases
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FBI press releases
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Office of the Attorney General in select states
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US Customs and Border Protection press releases
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US Marshals Service press releases
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US Secret Service press releases
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Australia Securities and Investment Commission press releases
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Commodity Futures Trading Commission press releases
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Chicago Mercantile Exchange, including CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX
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FDIC - Enforcement actions
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Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) - Notices
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Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada penalties releases
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Federal Reserve Bank - Enforcement actions
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Monetary Authority of Singapore - press releases and enforcement actions
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Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, In. (FINRA) - Press releases and monthly enforcements for NASD/FINRA
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National Credit Union Administration press releases
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Securities and Exchange Commission - Press releases and enforcement actions
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Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission
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