Stay Compliant and Skip the Complexity with Our Denied Party Screening Software

Denied Party Screening is a compliance activity that helps organizations check individuals and entities against government watchlists to prevent unauthorized transactions and business relationships with restricted or denied parties. Businesses operating in global trade face significant risks if they unknowingly engage with restricted or sanctioned parties. By implementing denied party screening processes, companies protect themselves from legal penalties, safeguard their reputation, and ensure smooth trade operations.

In export, trade, and financial compliance—requirements that apply to businesses in the U.S. and abroad—terms like denied party screening, restricted party screening, OFAC screening, and sanctions screening are often used interchangeably. However, while similar, they have distinct meanings tied to specific regulations. While restricted / denied party screening identifies individuals and entities restricted from trade, sanctions screening also includes embargoed countries, financial restrictions, and regulatory measures. Here's a definition of related terms to help guide your efforts:

• Denied Parties: Entities that have been denied export privileges. In some cases, they can purchase goods, but if they export or reexport them, it may violate export laws. End User Statements help manage this risk.
• Restricted Parties: Individuals or entities with full or partial restrictions. Some may require a license to conduct business, while others are entirely prohibited. Also referred to as blocked parties.
• Debarred Parties: Entities blocked due to violations of the Arms Export Control Act, overseen by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).
• Sanctioned Parties: Individuals, entities, or countries subject to economic or trade sanctions imposed by governments or international bodies. Sanctions may restrict financial transactions, trade, or business dealings and can vary in severity depending on the governing authority, such as the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the European Union, or the United Nations.
• OFAC-Related Parties: Individuals, entities, and countries sanctioned under U.S. economic sanctions, enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Lists include Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), Sectoral Sanctions, and Foreign Sanctions Evaders.

Understanding these distinctions ensures businesses apply the right compliance measures, reducing risk and maintaining regulatory adherence.

The relevant denied party lists depend on your industry, location, and the regions where you conduct business. Common examples include U.S. government lists like OFAC’s SDN List, the EU Consolidated List, and lists from international bodies such as the UN. Descartes provides a comprehensive screening solution that ensures you're checking all applicable global, and regional watchlists. Our experts are on hand to help adapt our denied party screening software to your business needs, so you're always confident you're staying compliant.

Yes, Descartes’ denied party screening solutions are built for organizations across all industries. Our technology supports industry-specific watchlist screening globally, catering to sectors like pharmaceuticals, finance, manufacturing, aerospace, defense, logistics, and more. The system includes specialized lists, such as System for Award Management (SAM) Exclusions List for healthcare, while also handling language differences in global watchlists and ensuring compliance with local regulations in different countries. Additionally, we provide specialized data to help identify entities with indirect ownership under global sanctions, aiding compliance with directional restricted party requirements like the OFAC 50% rule. With flexible configurations, real-time updates, and AI-driven matching capabilities, Descartes enables organizations of all sizes to adapt to evolving regulatory requirements and mitigate compliance risks.

To protect your business and ensure compliance, screening should be an integral part of every export or financial transaction, whether domestic or international. This includes screening all parties involved, from the final end user to every individual or business in the transaction chain. Screening inconsistently or only at onboarding leaves your business vulnerable to compliance failures. Best practices include screening at the start of the business relationship such as customer onboarding, before every transaction, and regularly re-screening existing partners to capture denied party list updates.

Additionally, screening should extend to anyone your organization interacts with—visitors, employees, business associates, re-sellers, and more. The specific watchlists and screening methods may vary depending on the purpose of the screening, ensuring the process is tailored to the context. Descartes offers screening capabilities that can be easily integrated into various organizational workflows to close compliance gaps. Continuous denied party screening reduces risk, promotes consistent compliance, and avoids disruptions to global trade operations.

Integrating denied party screening into your workflows can be seamless with the right approach and the vendor partner. Start by choosing a solution that aligns with your existing systems, such as your ERP, CRM, financial systems, or trade management platforms. A well-integrated tool automates the screening process, ensuring compliance checks happen in real-time without disrupting your operations.

Next, map out critical touchpoints where screening should occur—such as during onboarding, before transactions, or when vetting suppliers. Embedding screening at these points ensures it becomes a natural part of your workflow. Leading denied party screening solutions like Descartes can be integrated in as little as one business day with CRMs like Salesforce. We also help train your team on how to use the solution effectively and monitor its performance over time.

Organizations should verify whether it is a true match or a false positive, document findings, and follow internal escalation procedures. If a true match is confirmed, they must halt transactions and seek legal guidance. Solutions like Descartes Denied Party Screening Software offer Audit and Resolution tools that enable a structured response plan, ensure meticulous recordkeeping to demonstrate compliance efforts, and promote collaboration and transparency. These features help compliance teams address matches efficiently while reducing disruptions to business operations.

Descartes’ denied party screening solution is designed to efficiently manage false positives, helping organizations focus on real compliance risks while minimizing unnecessary delays. Our advanced search tuning algorithm incorporates a wide range of capabilities and verifications to refine search results, balancing accuracy and compliance. With Descartes Visual Compliance™ AI Assist, organizations can reduce false positives by up to 30%, leveraging configurable sensitivity levels that accurately identify and categorize threats. Additionally, our Multi-Oriented Text Recognition (MOTR) search enhances screening coverage for complex name variations. To further optimize screening performance, Descartes’ team of trade compliance experts collaborates with you to develop a tailored search tuning strategy. We provide guidance on leveraging data, segmentation, analytics, and search algorithms to refine results, ensuring your compliance processes remain both effective and efficient. For more resources on how to manage false positives, explore this article or watch this video that discusses key strategies to reduce false alerts in denied party screening.

Absolutely, Descartes provides you and your team ongoing training and dedicated support to confidently navigate the complexities of denied party screening. With us, training isn’t just a one-time event—it’s a continuous commitment. Included with your subscription, our experienced customer success team offers unlimited training, starting from onboarding and continuing throughout your use of the denied party screening solution. We work closely with you to understand your unique business needs, tailoring guidance to help you optimize and align the screening process with your specific trade compliance requirements.

Beyond hands-on support, you’ll have access to our comprehensive resource centers, where you can find in-depth guides, best practices, and compliance insights. As part of our service, you’ll also receive weekly regulatory updates and alerts on changes to denied party lists, keeping you informed about critical developments. Plus, you can sign up for our monthly newsletters, featuring expert analysis and the latest trade compliance strategies to help you continuously strengthen your trade compliance program. Whether it’s empowering new users, fine-tuning workflows, or answering your team’s questions, we’re here to ensure you have the tools and knowledge to maximize the value of your denied party screening efforts.

The cost of a denied party screening solution depends on your organization’s specific needs, including deployment method, number of users, screening volume, integration requirements, and the level of watchlist content needed. Pricing can start as low as $2,000 per year for businesses with minimal screening needs, while larger enterprises requiring advanced screening capabilities, integrations, and additional trade compliance features typically invest between $10,000 and $100,000.

At Descartes, we assist businesses of all sizes in finding the right solution to balance compliance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Explore our Denied Party Screening Pricing Guide to better understand cost structures or read this article for insights into OFAC screening pricing specifically. For personalized pricing details, contact us to discuss your needs or request a quote to see how our solutions can help reduce compliance risks, improve accuracy, minimize false positives, and save staff hours by automating manual screening efforts.