How fast must sanctions screening be?

Real-time transaction screening should complete in under 500ms.

What is the false positive rate?

Initial: 90%+. With tuning: 5-10%.

FinCEN requires 5 years. OFAC recommends 5 years.

AI can screen and flag. Alert disposition requires human review.

By SanctionsAI team · Updated 2026-08-09

A transaction monitoring system screens every payment against sanctions lists in real-time and generates alerts for review.

Component	Function
Sanctions screening engine	Matches names/wallets against SDN
Transaction logger	Records every screened transaction
Alert queue	Routes flagged transactions to reviewers
Reporting	Generates compliance reports

Every transaction triggers: counterparty name screening, wallet address screening, jurisdiction check, pattern detection.

Insert screening API call before transaction execution. Target latency: sub-500ms.

Confirmed SDN match (block), potential match (1-hour review), jurisdiction flag (24-hour review), pattern alert (48-hour investigate).

False positives: Expect 90%+ initially. Tune rules by analyzing historical alerts. Never disable a rule without documented approval.

Check any wallet, name, or entity against OFAC, EU, UN sanctions lists in real time.

How fast must sanctions screening be?: Real-time transaction screening should complete in under 500ms.
What is the false positive rate?: Initial: 90%+. With tuning: 5-10%.
How long must monitoring records be kept?: FinCEN requires 5 years. OFAC recommends 5 years.
Can AI agents do transaction monitoring?: AI can screen and flag. Alert disposition requires human review.