Methodology & Editorial Ethics
How we produce fast, accurate, and defensable sanctions intelligence
Overview
sanctions.com is a near-real-time, API-driven alerting system that converts updates from global sanctions authorities into structured, plain-English intelligence alerts. Our platform continuously monitors multilingual government sources worldwide and delivers actionable updates within minutes of publication.
Each alert includes a clear headline, a concise summary, and a structured fact set covering the action type, affected entities, programs, dates, and citations. This enables compliance, legal, risk, and policy professionals to make defensible decisions quickly.
Source Intake
We continuously monitor global sanctions authorities, including the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the European Union, the United Nations, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), and many others.
Mixed Formats
Web pages, PDFs, email notifications, structured feeds, and unstructured documents
Continuous Ingestion
24/7 monitoring with event-triggered processing for immediate alert generation
Global Authorities
Global coverage across US, EU, UN, UK, and national sanctions regimes worldwide
Five-Step Processing Model
Every sanctions alert passes through our standardized five-step processing pipeline to ensure accuracy, consistency, and auditability.
Ingest
Continuous monitoring of global sanctions sources. Our system detects new publications, amendments, and removals within minutes of official release, regardless of format or language.
Understand
A specialist large language model analyzes each notice to identify the action type (add, amend, remove, license, or advisory), affected entities, sanctions programs, effective dates, and key facts. This step extracts meaning from complex regulatory language.
Normalize
Notices are converted into a consistent structure: headline, lede (summary paragraph), and structured fact set. This ensures every alert follows AP-style editorial standards with a maximum of ~500 words, prioritizing what changed and why it matters.
Enrich
Entity resolution links entities across alerts, tagging adds regional and sectoral metadata, and schema enforcement ensures every alert meets our data quality standards for API distribution.
Deliver
Validated alerts are distributed via sanctions.com, our REST API, webhooks, email notifications, and bulk file exports. Every alert includes full source attribution and citation.
Editorial Standards
All alerts follow the AP Stylebook for clarity, accuracy, and consistency. We prioritize plain-English summaries that highlight what changed, maintain strict separation between fact and interpretation, and cite sources transparently.
Structured Format
Every alert includes: headline, lede, fact set (entities, programs, dates), and full source citation
Concise Length
Maximum ~500 words per alert, focusing on actionable intelligence and key changes
Fact-First Approach
Clear separation of facts, interpretation, and citation with emphasis on verifiable information
Consistent Style
AP Stylebook compliance ensures professional, newsroom-quality reporting across all alerts
Augmented Intelligence
We believe in full transparency about the role of automation and human oversight in our content creation.
Automated Generation
Many alerts are fully machine-generated and published automatically after passing quality checks. These alerts are clearly marked with AI disclosure badges and maintain the same editorial standards as human-reviewed content.
Human Review
Sensitive, complex, or high-impact alerts may be routed for human review before publication. Our sanctions experts validate facts, assess context, and refine interpretation when necessary. By design, all entries on sanctions.com are subject to human review.
Source Attribution
Every alert cites its source with direct links to official documents, enabling users to verify information independently and maintain auditability for compliance purposes. We do not cover or publish information for which the source is not available.
Version Control
All alerts maintain strict version control with timestamps and change tracking. Updates and corrections are clearly documented and accessible through our API.
Trust, Governance & Controls
Our platform is designed to provide defensible intelligence for high-stakes compliance and risk decisions.
Source Traceability
Every alert is traceable to source evidence with direct links to official government documents and regulatory filings
Confidence Scoring
Machine-generated content includes confidence metrics to help users assess data quality and reliability
Schema Enforcement
Rigorous data validation ensures every alert meets our structured format requirements before publication
Expert Oversight
Sensitive updates receive human review from sanctions professionals before distribution
Limitations & Disclaimers
Not Legal Advice: sanctions.com provides informational intelligence only and does not constitute legal, financial, or compliance advice. Users should consult qualified professionals for specific guidance.
Subject to Change: Sanctions regimes evolve rapidly. While we strive for real-time updates, there may be brief delays between official publication and alert distribution.
Accuracy Depends on Sources: Our content quality relies on the accuracy and completeness of upstream government sources. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of source data.
User Responsibility: Organizations remain responsible for their own compliance programs, due diligence, and regulatory obligations. sanctions.com is a tool to support, not replace, professional judgment.
Questions About Our Methodology?
We welcome inquiries about our editorial process, AI systems, and content verification procedures.