Global Watchlist Search: Ensuring Compliance with International Regulations
In today’s increasingly regulated global environment, conducting a global watchlist search is not just a smart business practice; it’s essential. By regularly screening individuals and entities against critical databases, such as sanctions lists and PEPs, companies can identify potential risks and take action before problems arise. This proactive approach helps protect against financial crimes, reputational damage, and costly penalties. Compliance with international regulations is non-negotiable, and failing to implement a thorough watchlist search puts businesses at unnecessary risk.
What is Global Watchlist Search?
Global watchlist checks execute a complete search of diverse national and international government watchlists. It involves the FBI, Interpools, and Office of Foreign Asset Control sanction wanted lists. It also includes the Department of State sanction lists and specially designated national lists. The main objective of the global watchlist behind its conduction is to find the high-risk entities that are involved in illegalities of money laundering and terror funding.
Steps for Conducting an Effective International Global Watchlist Screening
If the international background scrutinization involves a global watchlist search, it is requisite to give additional credentials. It’s important to consider the following points when transferring the identification:
- Ensure the ID used is valid and unexpired.
- The uploaded image should clearly show both your photo and signature.
- The image must be clear and readable, without any blurriness.
- All four edges of the ID or document page must be visible in the image.
- For a National ID or driver’s license, provide images of both the front and back.
- For a Passport, include images of both the photo page and the signature page.
The standard processing time is approximately 2 business days.
Global Watchlist Screening: A Comprehensive Overview
Checkr’s global watchlist search detects whether an individual’s name shows up on national and global watchlists. This search involves government and audit databases that list persons who are either forbidden from particular sectors, such as healthcare and finance, or the ones that are most wanted on the fraudster lists.
A global watchlist search can also detect suspected terrorists, money fraudsters, and drug traffickers from central repositories that are not relevant to judicial records. Contrarily, the federal, state, and country searches hardly restore results from the global watchlist search sources.
In a global watchlist search, Checkr submits the candidate’s name to a vendor, who then checks multiple databases. For the initial search, an exact match of the name isn’t required. However, Checkr conducts additional manual and automated checks to confirm that any results accurately match the candidate’s name.
Dynamic Watchlist Screening Protocol Within the US and Outside the US
The global watchlist search protocol varies depending on the individual’s current location;
Within the US
A global watchlist search for individuals in the United States extensively looks out for diverse government monitoring lists that involve the ones that are given below:
- US Department of the Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons
- Office of Foreign Asset Control’s (OFAC) Sanctions
- Denied Persons Lists
- Department of State’s Sanctions Lists
- FBI’s Most Wanted
- Interpol’s Most Wanted
- US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Wanted Fugitive
- System for Award Management (SAM)
- The Office of Inspector General for the US Department of Health and Human Services (OIG-HHS)
The agencies that manage these databases update them at different intervals, meaning the frequency of updates can vary.
A global watchlist search is included in every Checkr criminal background check package. It cannot be purchased separately or added as an extra feature.
Outside the US
A global watchlist search for individuals outside the US thoroughly looks out for diverse national and international government watchlists, including the ones that are mentioned below: ]
- FBI Most Wanted Lists
- Interpol’s Most Wanted Lists
- Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) Sanctions Lists
- Denied Persons Lists
- Department of State Sanctions Lists
- Specially Designated Nationals Lists
Final Words
A Global Watchlist Search is an essential part of due diligence for businesses. By comparing individuals or entities against various watchlists, such as sanctions and wanted person lists, companies can identify potential risks. This search helps prevent financial crimes, ensure compliance with laws, and avoid penalties. Regular watchlist screening is crucial for industries like finance and healthcare, as it protects businesses from engaging with high-risk individuals or entities. In this continuously developing era, staying updated with these checks is vital to protect business integrity and maintain trust in the services provided.