---
title: "Conducting PEPs, Sanctions, and Adverse Media Checks"
description: "Summary"
canonical_url: "https://infotrack-australia.brainfish.ai/articles/conducting-peps-sanctions-and-adverse-media-checks-xBkcKWR9vw"
md_url: "https://infotrack-australia.brainfish.ai/articles/conducting-peps-sanctions-and-adverse-media-checks-xBkcKWR9vw.md"
---
# Conducting PEPs, Sanctions, and Adverse Media Checks

## Summary

This article explains how to initiate a PEPs (Politically Exposed Persons), Sanctions, and Adverse Media check on a staff member or client, review potential database matches, and record your final compliance determination.

## When to Use This

Use this process when you are onboarding a new staff member or client and need to verify their background against politically exposed persons lists, sanctions lists, and adverse media reports. Properly resolving matches helps mitigate financial and reputational risks, ensuring compliance alignment before finalising onboarding.

## Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Locate the individual you want to check (either a staff member or a client) in the Compliance Centre.
2. Under the **AML/CTF: Client Due Diligence** section, check the box next to **PEPs, sanctions and Adverse media**.
3. Click the down arrow next to **Precise** and select from **Precise, Near** or **Broad**.
4. Toggle **Monitoring** to re-run the check daily.  This will provide notification to you should the client become Politically exposed or appear on any Sanctions and Adverse media check.  This daily check is an additional cost to the standard onboarding fee.
5. Click **Continue** to proceed and review the details and then click **Confirm**.
6. The status will change to **PROCESSING** while the system performs the search and then **COMPLETED** once the search is returned and available to **VIEW**.
7. If profiles were found, the status will display the number of **Profiles Found**.
8. Click **Review** to see the list of potential search matches.
9. Select the checkboxes next to the names of the profiles that present matching criteria, then click **Request profiles**.
10. Once the request is processed, the status will update to **To Review** (or display an **Action pending** label on the compliance dashboard). Click the **Review** link to inspect the returned profile details.
11. Assess the detailed profile information, including risk categories (such as PEP levels or RCA - Relatives and Close Associates), gender, citizenship, residency, jurisdictions, associated organisations, confidence scores powered by the background database, and any documented adverse media.
12. Click the status dropdown menu (defaulted to **To review**) and classify the profile as either **Is a match** or **Not a match**. Alternatively, if none of the registry profiles match your actual client, scroll to the bottom of the page and click **No matches**. If a true match is identified, follow your firm's escalation policy.
13. Repeat the evaluation for any additional flagged profiles until the status updates to **Completed**. Confirm that the status indicates "No matches" if none were found.

## Common Questions

* **Who can I run a PEPs check on?** You can run this check on either a staff member or a client.
* **What happens after I confirm the order?** The system will process the search, and the status will update to show whether any profile matches were found.
* **What is a PEP check?** A PEP check identifies whether a customer holds (or has held) a prominent public position or is closely related to someone who has.
* **What** **is a Sanction check?** A Sanctions check verifies whether a person or business appears on official government or international sanctions lists (for example - UN or DFAT)
* **What is a Adverse Media check?** An Adverse Media check looks for negative news or public information about a person or business.
* **How do I Cancel a PEP, Sanctions & Adverse Media Check?** If you need to cancel an existing search, simply select the three dots on the right hand side of the search. This will provide a drop down of options. Select the option **Cancel PEPs, Sanctions & Adverse media**. A confirmation message will appear on the screen to confirm your decision, select **Confirm**. This will move the status of the search to **Cancelled**.
* **How do I enter client's details if they only have a single name — whether that's a first name with no surname, or a surname with no first name?**Enter the client's single name in whichever field applies (first name or surname), and enter a hyphen (**-**) in the other field. The system needs both fields completed to process the check, so the hyphen fills the one that doesn't apply.
* **What does Precise, Near or Broad mean when ordering a PEPs search?**  Precise - exact or very close matches, Near - close and feasible matches using linguistic and fuzzy search capabilities, Broad - wider scope of matches taking into consideration a tolerance of errors.

## Troubleshooting Tips

* **Incorrect details in the confirmation window:** If the mobile number or other details are incorrect, update them in the pop-up before clicking confirm.
* **Search taking a long time:** The search may take a few moments to return results. Wait for the status to change from "IN PROGRESS" to see the outcome.



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