xMap data

Sanctions and watchlists

Sanctions and watchlists checks each company, person or ship that reaches it against sanctions lists and watchlists from OpenSanctions, which gathers the UN, the EU, the US, the UK and over 300 more official lists. Each item goes on with whether a possible match was found, the best match, how close it is, the lists it is on and a link to the record. A match is not proof: a person decides.

In the editor: Checks the companies, people or ships that reach it against sanctions lists and watchlists (OpenSanctions: the UN, the EU, the US, the UK and 300 more official lists), and adds to each item whether a possible match was found, the best match, how close it is (0 to 1), the lists it is on and a link to the record. A match is not proof: a person decides. Every item goes on, checked or not, unless you choose to keep only one side.

Settings

Check

Pick one

Automatic checks an item with an MMSI or IMO number as a ship, one with a contact or person name as a person, and anything else as a company or organisation. Ships are matched by their IMO number first, which is far surer than a name.

Each item as a company, a person or a ship, from its own fields.

  • Automatic
  • Companies
  • People
  • Ships

Name field

Text

The field that holds the name. Automatic uses the company, the name or a contact’s name.

The field that holds the name to check. Automatic uses name, company or a contact’s name.

Lists

Pick one

Sanctions lists only: official sanctions and their linked entities. Sanctions and watchlists adds debarment, wanted, crime and export control lists. Also politically exposed people adds people in public office and their families and associates: being on it is not wrongdoing.

Sanctions, debarment, wanted and export control lists.

  • Sanctions lists only
  • Sanctions and watchlists
  • Also politically exposed people

Match

Pick one

Each candidate gets a score from 0 to 1 for how close it is to the name asked. 0.7 is OpenSanctions’ own suggestion; 0.85 for fewer to review; 0.5 when missing a real match would be worse than more reviewing.

How close a name must be to count. Close matches only: fewer to review, but a real match spelled differently can be missed. Loose: more for a person to look at.

  • Close matches only (0.85)
  • Possible matches (0.7)
  • Loose (0.5)

Pass on

Pick one

Every item, with the check, keeps everything. The other two keep one side and say in the step how many they left out: nothing is dropped silently.

Every item keeps sanctions_match (Yes, No or Not checked), sanctions_score, sanctions_best, sanctions_lists and sanctions_link. A match is not proof: a person decides.

  • Every item, with the check
  • Only possible matches
  • Only items with no match

What comes out

Each item that leaves the block carries these fields, to use in the blocks after it as {{field}}.

Each incoming item, with its check

Always.

  • sanctions_match: Yes (a possible match for a person to review), No, or Not checked (no name, or past the run’s limit).
  • sanctions_score: How close the best candidate is, from 0 to 1, even when it is not a match.
  • sanctions_best, sanctions_best_type: The best candidate’s name and whether it is a company, person or ship.
  • sanctions_lists, sanctions_topics: The lists it is on, and its kinds (sanction, debarment, role.pep...).
  • sanctions_link, sanctions_checked: The record on OpenSanctions, and the day it was checked.
  • sanctions_note: A match is not proof: a person decides.

How to use it

Maritime

New ships in port checked against sanctions lists

Each new arrival checked once by its IMO number, only the possible matches to the compliance desk.

Finance

Screen new merchants against sanctions lists

Every new merchant checked as it arrives; a person approves any possible match before onboarding.

Public sector

Bidders on a tender

A city procurement office checks every company that bids.

Before: Each bidder was searched by hand on several government sites.

With the flow: All bidders are checked at once against hundreds of lists, and the board sees the result.

Logistics

New carriers and forwarders

A partner on a sanctions list is found before the first shipment.

Sales

Leads before outreach

Nobody writes to a company on a sanctions list by mistake.

Real estate

Buyers of high-value homes

Non-profit

Grant partners

Donors require partners to be screened before money moves.

Insurance

Ships in an insured fleet

A vessel added to a sanctions list is known the same week.

Good to know

  • A match is not proof: names are shared by many people and companies. Every possible match needs a person to look at the record before anything is decided, and the block never decides for you. Put an Approval after it for that.
  • Each name checked is one query paid to OpenSanctions, so it costs more than most blocks; the price is on the block. The same name, country and lists checked again the same day cost nothing.
  • Up to 200 items a run are checked; the rest go on marked Not checked, and the step says how many.
  • Only the name, a country when the item has one, and a ship’s IMO and MMSI numbers are sent to OpenSanctions, nothing else of the item. The data is from OpenSanctions (opensanctions.org); every result and email says so.
  • The lists change every day. A check is as of the day in sanctions_checked: check again before a decision that matters.

Works well with

  • Ships (AIS): Ships at sea or in port right now, from AIS (the signal ships send with their position, speed and heading; live from AISStream): every vessel heard in the Area of interest before this block, or around a point.
  • New rows: Starts the flow when new rows appear in a Google Sheet or in a table in My data.
  • My data: Brings in a table you uploaded or a list you saved on the My data page: your stores, customers, target accounts or sites.
  • Only new: Lets through only the items this flow has not found before, so a daily flow sends only what is new.
  • Filter: Keeps only the items that match a rule.
  • Approval: Stops the run until someone says yes.
  • Email: Sends one email per run with all the items, or one email per item.
  • Apollo: The people to talk to at each company, and the company’s details, from your own Apollo account (apollo.io): decision makers by job title with their LinkedIn and work email; or the company’s size, industry, revenue and LinkedIn page; or a person from their email.

Help articles

Try it

Build a flow with Sanctions and watchlists on the home page, no account needed, or book a call. Try it live