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What is a Sanction?

A sanction is a restriction imposed on an individual, company, or country by a government or international body. Sanctioned entities are prohibited from participating in certain financial transactions, and financial institutions that process transactions involving them face serious legal consequences. Sanctions are issued by bodies such as:
  • OFAC (US Office of Foreign Assets Control)
  • UN Security Council (global multilateral sanctions)
  • EU (European Union restrictive measures)
  • HM Treasury (United Kingdom sanctions)
  • EFCC / CBN (Nigerian enforcement authorities)

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What Sigma Checks

Sigma screens against a continuously updated database of global sanctions lists, covering individuals, organisations, vessels, and aircraft sanctioned across multiple jurisdictions. Sigma uses fuzzy matching to catch name variations, misspellings, and aliases, which are common tactics used to evade screening. Each result includes the source dataset, aliases on record, known addresses, and the sanctions programme the entity belongs to.

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Understanding the Result

Each result includes a confidence score (0 to 100) that reflects how closely the name matches:
ScoreWhat it means
100Exact or near-exact match. Treat as a confirmed hit until investigated.
70 to 99Strong match. Cross-reference aliases, country, and other identifiers.
Below 70Partial match. Likely a false positive, but document your dismissal.
Results also include the sanctions programme the entity belongs to (e.g. “US SAM Procurement Exclusions”) and the effective dates of the sanction, helping you understand the scope and jurisdiction of the restriction.

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What to Do with a Sanctions Hit

Unlike a PEP match, a confirmed sanctions hit carries a legal obligation to act:
  • Do not process any transaction involving a confirmed sanctioned entity
  • Freeze assets if required under your jurisdiction’s regulations
  • File a report with the relevant authority (e.g. NFIU, OFAC)
  • Document the match, your investigation, and the action taken
If the match turns out to be a false positive (the same name belonging to a different person), document your evidence clearly and retain it for audit purposes. Regulators expect you to demonstrate why you dismissed a match.

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How to Run a Sanctions Check

There are two ways to run a sanctions check:
  1. Over API Send the name of the person or entity and we return any matching sanction records.
    See our Sanctions API reference
  2. Sigma Dashboard Search for a person or entity directly from the dashboard.
    Visit Sigma
Need to screen multiple entities at once? See our bulk search feature that handles thousands of names in minutes.