Adverse Media Screening and Monitoring

Screen customers and partners against 200K+ trusted news sources, with every article tagged by risk category. Catch reputational and financial crime risk early, at onboarding or with ongoing monitoring.

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Adverse media is configured with our team during setup.
Or explore the 24 risk categories
200K+
News sources
24
Risk categories
400+
Customers
SOC 2
Type II compliant
app.sanctions.io · Adverse media
 
 
Illustrative example only. Names, outlets and articles are fictional.

Why Teams Trust Our Adverse Media Screening

Negative news often surfaces risk long before a sanctions designation does. The challenge is finding the signal without drowning in noise.

200K+ Trusted News Sources

Global coverage from more than 200,000 credible news sources, so early warnings surface across every jurisdiction you work in.

Structured Risk Tagging

Every article is tagged by risk theme, such as fraud, corruption or regulatory enforcement, so reviewers see why it matters at a glance.

Less Noise, More Signal

Advanced algorithms filter out irrelevant coverage and a confidence score you set keeps the results focused on real risk.

Free playbook
The Adverse Media and Reputational Risk Playbook
How to turn negative news into a defensible risk decision, from setting your risk categories to documenting what you found.
Get the Free Playbook

Tuned to Your Risk Appetite

Adverse media settings apply across single screening, batch screening, monitoring and the API, so every search uses the same rules.

Confidence score
88–99%

The minimum match confidence for a hit. Higher means fewer, more precise matches. Lower means broader coverage.

Risk categories
24

Choose the categories that fit your exposure, from fraud and corruption to ESG risk and cybercrime.

Countries
Worldwide

Screen globally by default, or limit results to the countries that matter to you.

Languages
6

English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese. Articles are returned in their original language.

Lookback window
Up to 4 years

1 day, 3 months, 1 year or 4 years. For monitored entries, new articles are added as they are published.

Screen at Onboarding

Run a one-time check when a customer or partner comes on board, alongside sanctions, PEP and criminal watchlist screening.

Monitor Continuously

Add entities to monitoring and new articles are picked up automatically as they are published, from the start of your lookback window.

Explore the 24 Risk Categories

Every article is tagged with the risk it relates to. Select a theme to see the categories it covers and who typically prioritizes them.

From Headline to Decision

An adverse media hit is a lead, not a verdict. Step through how a reviewer works one, from confirming it is the right person to recording the outcome.

Adverse media hit  
Coastal Business Journal · 3 months ago
Shipping executive charged in customs fraud investigation

Marco Ferrante, 52, a director at a Genoa-based logistics firm, was charged on Tuesday as part of an investigation into false customs declarations on imported goods. He denies wrongdoing.

Customer
Marco Ferrante
Born
1973
City
Genoa
Role
Director
Illustrative example only. The person, outlet and article are fictional.

AI and NLP Powered Name Matching

Matching built on natural language processing and machine learning, so the variants that defeat a string comparison still match, and the names that only look alike stop generating false positives.

Transliteration, nicknames, spelling errors and honorifics Fewer false positives No real match slipping through

Solutions for Any Sanctions Screening Workflow

The same adverse media data and the same matching, wherever screening needs to run. Pick a workflow to see how it works.

Hear From Our Customers

"The product is amazing and the tech is tight. We integrated the sanctions.io API within a couple of days and now perform daily screenings of our entire customer base."

Dan Westgarth
COO, Deel Inc.

"Our experience with sanctions.io has been transformative for our compliance processes. Their reliable and comprehensive data feeds give us the peace of mind that comes from operating within international compliance standards."

Armand Brunelle
CTO, WeFi Technology Group

"sanctions.io combines robust, reliable and industry leading technology with hands on customer support. We implemented full passenger vetting in a matter of days and have had no issues with the API since inception."

Patrick O'Brian
Flight Operations, Innotech-Execaire Aviation Group

Trusted by 400+ Organizations Worldwide

Customer logoCustomer logoCustomer logoCustomer logoCustomer logoCustomer logoCustomer logoCustomer logoCustomer logoCustomer logoCustomer logo
400+Customers
MillionsDaily Screenings
100+Data Sources
99.995%Uptime
SOC 2Compliant
Next step

Join 400+ Organizations Screening With sanctions.io

Adverse media is configured with our team, so it matches your risk categories, regions and lookback from day one. Book a short call to get set up.

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What you get
A tailored setup
Risk categories, countries, languages and lookback set to your risk appetite.
200K+ news sources
Tagged across 24 risk categories, in six languages.
One search, full risk picture
Alongside 80+ sanctions lists, 1M+ PEP profiles and criminal watchlists.

Adverse Media Screening, Answered

The questions compliance teams ask about negative news screening.

Resources

Implementation Guide
Our Implementation Guide helps you with implementing sanctions.io into your compliance process and systems.
Sanctions Screening Guide
Our Sanctions Screening Guide offers step-by-step instructions to kickstart your sanctions compliance process.
Resource Center
Our Resource Center is your ultimate palce for AML and sanctions white papers, guides,  updates, and more.
Sanctions Screening vs Sanctions Monitoring: When to Choose Which
Sanctions screening and monitoring are two distinct yet complementary approaches that form the backbone of an effective sanctions compliance program. Screening involves checking names or transactions against watchlists at key moments (such as onboarding or payment processing) to prevent prohibited activity from occurring. Monitoring, on the other hand, is an ongoing process that tracks customer behavior, ownership changes, and geopolitical developments to identify emerging or indirect sanctions risks. While screening provides immediate frontline protection, monitoring captures threats that evolve over time. The most resilient compliance frameworks combine both practices, supported by clean data, calibrated tools, strong governance, and continuous training. Organizations should align their use of screening and monitoring with their specific risk profile, regulatory obligations, and operational complexity.
Understanding OFAC Sanctions Lists: A Comprehensive Guide
The OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) sanctions lists are essential tools used by the U.S. government to enforce foreign policy and national security objectives by targeting individuals, organisations, and countries involved in activities like terrorism, corruption, or arms proliferation. These lists—such as the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List and various non-SDN lists—restrict access to the U.S. financial system and prohibit transactions with listed entities. While centred in the United States, the global impact of OFAC sanctions means businesses worldwide must remain compliant to avoid severe penalties or reputational damage. With tools like the Sanctions List Search and downloadable datasets, OFAC facilitates screening and compliance efforts, making it crucial for companies to implement regular monitoring, staff training, and legal oversight to mitigate risks.
How Long Is Someone a PEP? Declassification, Family Members, and Where to Draw the Line
A minister leaves office. How long do you keep treating them as a PEP? Their spouse, their business partner, their adult child? FATF, the EU, the UK, and the US all answer this differently, and most firms have never actually compared the four side by side. This post lays out the real positions, the scope question around relatives and close associates, and the governance point that ties it together.
Setting Sanctions and PEP Match Thresholds: Why They Shouldn't Be the Same Number
Most firms set one fuzzy-matching threshold at implementation and apply it to every list they screen, including sanctions and PEP data, without ever revisiting the decision. This post argues that's a configuration accident, not a risk decision, and walks through why sanctions and PEP screening deserve different settings, with worked examples across payments, B2B onboarding, and insurance.
View Resources