- SAP Managed Tags
“New trade sanctions become operational” is a headline that one can regularly read these days.
For many companies – especially in the financial sector or sensitive industries, this has been a reality for a long time. But more and more organizations are realizing that these compliance requirements apply to them because they have dealings in geographies or with stakeholders that are now in the scope of a sanction regime.
Let’s roll back and start with the basics:
What are sanctions?
In short, sanctions are political and economic decisions resulting in restrictions placed on trade and financial activities. Failure to comply creates an offence that might lead to penalty measures.
And the list of activities that constitutes an offense can be quite long.
For instance, “trading, importing, exporting, selling, purchasing, transferring, transiting or transporting goods” of course, but also “providing brokering services, technical assistance or other services”, “making funds or economic resources available directly or indirectly to, or for the benefit of, a designated person, entity or body”, “failing to freeze funds or economic resources belonging to or owned, held or controlled by a designated person, entity or body”, “providing financial services or performing financial activities”… and more are detailed in the 2024 update to the EU Directive on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violati....
There are currently 14 ongoing sanctions regimes enforced by the UN Security Council, but many states – or economic unions, have their own set of sanction measures addressing specific sectors, territories or individuals. This is the case for the United States, the European Union, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, China, Canada, or Australia just to name a few.
Enforcing these ever-evolving measures is by no means an easy task, and keeping track of all the changes adds to the complexity. But breaking these sanctions is definitely not an option as, at the very least, it will lead to bad reputation, but also fines, loss of license to operate or even criminal charges can be enforced.
And, with predefined easy to use content from Mendel Verlag, this is precisely what SAP Watch List Screening has been designed to support as I am sure you already know.
But there are also cases where companies want to screen against custom watch lists: either coming from a new content provider, or maybe even internal restrictions, potentially conflicting parties, etc.
Introducing Custom Watch List Uploading
With the November 2024 update, Product Management and Engineering teams for SAP solutions for International Trade Management have introduced a powerful new feature: the ability to upload custom watch list content. This new capability enables organizations to enhance their screening processes proactively, safeguarding the company against potential risks arising from being involved with dubious stakeholders.
You can now seamlessly integrate your own watch list content into our SAP Watch List Screening solution using an API.
This functionality allows users to:
Personalize Screening Processes | Tailor the screening to your organization’s specific needs by adding entities that are particularly relevant to your operations. For example, this includes lists of fraudulent taxpayers, or persons and organizations with whom you prefer not to do business |
Stay Up-to-Date | Regularly update your custom watch lists to reflect the latest information pertinent to your industry or region |
Leverage Additional Data Provider Content | Include lists from different providers, or additional lists provided by Mendel Verlag which are not included in the sanctioned party list screening packages offered |
The upload and management of custom watch lists are entirely under your charge, giving you full control over the content you screen against.
To achieve this, a new user-friendly Configuration app has been released:
With this new Fiori app, users can:
Configure Watch List Package Categories 
| Assign appropriate categories to the content provided by Mendel Verlag, ensuring accurate organization and screening |
Manage Screening Settings 
| Decide whether your uploaded custom watch list should be active and used during the screening process, giving you full control over compliance operations |
Monitor Watch List Fill Levels 
| Keep track of the volume and status of your uploaded custom watch lists to ensure they are comprehensive and effective |
Getting Started
If you are already using SAP Watch List Screening and would like to leverage this new functionality, simply follow the steps below:
| Prepare Your Custom Watch List Content | Gather the data you wish to include in your custom watch list. This could be entities you prefer to avoid, or additional lists from data providers |
| Use the API for Upload | Utilize SAP’s API to upload your custom watch list content into the SAP Watch List Screening system |
| Configure with the New App | Access the new app to set up your watch list package categories, determine screening usage, and monitor fill levels |
Find out more information
Should you be interested in reading more, you will find additional details at the following pages:
- Feature in What's New in SAP Watch List Screening
- Dedicated section in the Administration Guide for SAP Watch List Screening
- REST API description in the SAP Business Accelerator Hub
Credits for the information in this blog go to Valentin Kruck and David Sommer, leading SAP Watch List Screening for Product Management and Engineering at SAP.
And if you are interested in learning more about SAP solutions for Governance, Risk, and Compliance, feel free to fill-in the demo request form!
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