Top-tier universal bank (identity anonymised)
How a Global Bank Rebuilt Sanctions Screening Throughput Without Sacrificing Precision
A multi-jurisdiction bank faced mounting alert inventory after rapid list expansion. The programme needed measurable throughput gains while preserving audit-ready decision records.
Key results
- ✓Median alert decision time reduced from 11 days to under 36 hours for standard retail hits
- ✓True-positive capture rate improved after threshold recalibration informed by historical adjudications
- ✓Unified API screening enabled consistent scoring across retail, wealth, and commercial onboarding
Challenge: fragmented screening stacks
Legacy batch jobs and regional point solutions produced inconsistent scores for the same customer record. Analysts duplicated research across channels, and model governance lacked a single source of truth for list versions in use.
Regulatory expectations for Russia-related and secondary sanctions exposure added pressure to prove coverage breadth and timeliness.
Approach: governance first, then technology
The bank chartered a cross-functional working group—AML operations, technology, and internal audit—to agree on risk segments, mandatory attributes per segment, and escalation paths before selecting integration patterns.
PrimeGuardia’s aggregated lists and low-latency API were embedded at onboarding and payment initiation, with batch re-screening scheduled weekly for high-risk portfolios and daily for PEP-heavy segments.
Outcome: sustainable operating cadence
Dashboards now track backlog age, analyst productivity, and override reasons. Senior compliance reviews exceptions monthly instead of reactively during examinations.
Documentation links each threshold change to risk assessment citations, closing a recurring gap noted in prior reviews.