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Sanctions Risk Assessment

Know where your business faces sanctions exposure and which controls need attention.

Discuss Your Sanctions Risks

    About Our Sanctions Risk Assessment Services

    A customer may pass a name check while their ownership, trading partners or payment arrangements raise sanctions concerns. Screening alone will not tell you how exposed your business is.

    Vertex Compliance looks at where those risks arise across your operations. We review who you deal with, where business takes place, how transactions move and what your teams do when something needs closer attention.

    You receive an assessment explaining your exposure, the controls in place and the weaknesses that need action. The findings help management decide what to fix first and who should take responsibility.

    Sanctions Risk Assessment

    What Our Sanctions Risk Assessment Service Covers

    We look at your business relationships, assess the controls behind them and identify where sanctions risks remain.

    1. Business and Customer Exposure

    We examine the parts of your business that could create sanctions exposure. These include customers, beneficial owners, counterparties, countries, products and payment routes. For a trading business, the focus may include intermediaries and the parties connected to a shipment. For a payment provider, cross-border flows and transaction participants may need closer review. We assess each area using relevant business information and explain the basis for the risk rating.

    2. Sanctions Controls and Screening

    We review how your business checks customers and transactions, handles possible matches and responds to changes in sanctions lists. We also examine ownership checks, escalation procedures and responsibilities for freezing and reporting where applicable. Discussions with your teams and selected records help establish whether written procedures are being followed. If the work identifies a need for detailed screening-system testing, we explain what further testing is required.

    3. Findings and Corrective Actions

    Once exposure and controls have been assessed, we determine the risk that remains. The report explains each significant gap, why it matters and what should happen next. Recommendations may involve better customer information, wider screening coverage, clearer escalation steps or stronger oversight. We discuss priorities with your team and propose owners and completion dates. Where information is missing, we explain how that limits the conclusions.

    Our Approach

    We work with the people who know your business and check the evidence behind your sanctions controls.

    1
    Agree on the Scope

    We start with your business activities and the reason for the assessment. You may be entering a new market, responding to a finding or reviewing an existing framework. Together, we agree which entities, services and sanctions regimes the work will address. We then request the information needed and identify the employees who should be involved.

    2
    Identify the Exposure

    We review your customers, geographic connections, ownership information and transaction activity. Your teams help us understand relationships or arrangements that the data alone may not explain. This could include payments made by third parties, business conducted through intermediaries or exposure connected to a customer’s owners. We use these findings to build the inherent risk assessment.

    3
    Review How Controls Work

    We examine the procedures and records relevant to the risks identified. Who reviews a potential match? What happens when ownership information is incomplete? How are urgent concerns escalated? These questions help us assess whether responsibilities are clear and controls are supported by evidence. We document weaknesses and consider their effect on the remaining risk.

    4
    Set Out the Next Steps

    We discuss the findings with the relevant teams before finalising the report. This allows factual errors to be corrected and proposed actions to be checked for practicality. Management receives the assessment, supporting explanations and a prioritised action plan. Further support can be agreed if your team needs help addressing findings or reviewing progress.

    Who Are Our Sanctions Risk Assessment Services For?

    Banks and Financial Institutions
    Designated Non-Financial Businesses & Professions
    Virtual Asset Service Providers
    Fintech and Payment Businesses

    Ideal for UAE businesses reviewing existing controls, expanding their activities or addressing concerns raised by management, auditors or regulators.

    Why Choose Vertex Compliance?

    Relevant to Your Business

    Your assessment should reflect the business you run. We focus on your customers, services, markets and transaction activity, with closer attention to the areas where exposure is greatest.

    Findings You Can Follow

    A risk rating means little without an explanation. We show what was reviewed, what the evidence indicates and why a particular issue needs attention. Gaps in the available information are made clear.

    A Check on Actual Practice

    We speak with the people responsible for sanctions controls and review selected supporting records. This helps identify differences between what a procedure says and what happens during day-to-day work.

    Clear Actions for Your Team

    Recommendations should give employees something they can act on. We explain the change needed, suggest a priority and help establish responsibility, so findings can move into a practical remediation plan.

    Meet the Experts

    Sarah Khan
    Vasantha Madan Mohan

    Managing Director

    Sarah Khan
    Sridhar Rajam

    Associate Partner

    Sarah Khan
    Arjun Mohan

    Director – Sales & Marketing

    Frequently Asked Questions

    It is a review of how your business could become involved with sanctioned parties or prohibited activity, directly or indirectly. The assessment looks at your exposure and the controls used to manage it. It then identifies the risks that remain and recommends improvements.
    Screening is essential, but it has limits. Incomplete customer data, undisclosed ownership or an unchecked party in a transaction can leave exposure undetected. A risk assessment looks beyond individual matches to examine whether your overall approach is appropriate for your business.
    We consider applicable UAE requirements, including relevant UN Security Council sanctions and the UAE Local Terrorist List. Foreign sanctions regimes may also need consideration because of your overseas activities, payment arrangements or business relationships. The assessment distinguishes legal requirements from contractual restrictions and your organisation’s own risk decisions.
    Set a review schedule that reflects your regulatory obligations and business exposure. Review it sooner if a significant change occurs, such as entering a new country, introducing a product or identifying a serious control weakness. Changes in sanctions measures may also affect the assessment.
    Typical requests include sanctions policies, previous risk assessments, customer and ownership information, geographic exposure and transaction summaries. We may also request screening records, alert decisions, escalation logs and management reports. The information needed will depend on the agreed scope and how your business operates.
    The report sets out the assessment scope, methodology, inherent risks, control findings and residual risk ratings. It also includes recommended actions and priorities. Supporting explanations and any evidence limitations are recorded so management can understand the conclusions and decide how to respond.