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For AI agents: a documentation index is available at https://docs.coverbase.com/llms.txt. This page is also available in markdown by appending .md to the URL.
This guide is part of the User Guides collection. It is the reference for what Coverbase Screening checks. For reading and deciding a match, and for the settings page, see the Sanctions screening guide.
The mistake people most often make is reading an empty match list as “screened against everything”. A screen only covers the sources switched on for your organization when it ran. Adverse media is off by default, and people are only screened if you opt them in. Each run in a vendor’s history lists the sources it covered, so check them before you write “no sanctions exposure” into an assessment.

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The five sources

An administrator switches sources on and off under Configuration → Monitoring → Screening, in What we screen against. A source switched off there never runs: not on the schedule, not at intake, and not in an ad hoc screen.

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Sanctions and watchlists

A sanctions match means the subject appears to be named on a list of individuals or entities whose assets are frozen, who are barred from certain transactions, or who are otherwise restricted. Sanctions lists are refreshed from their sources at least daily, and the key lists as often as every six hours. The table lists the principal sanctions and watchlist sources. The catalog changes as lists are added, so ask your Coverbase account team for the complete current list for your workspace.

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International

The FATF lists rate the subject’s country, not the subject.

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Americas

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Europe

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Asia Pacific

A match shows the list it came from. Follow the source link in the match before you decide it: the list entry is what tells you what the match means.

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Politically exposed persons

A PEP is someone who holds, or held within the lookback period, a prominent public function whose role gives elevated corruption, bribery, sanctions evasion or money laundering risk. PEP data draws on public office records and sources including OpenSanctions, Rulers.org and EveryPolitician, normalized to one inclusion standard. In scope by default Out of scope by default: ordinary civil servants, junior staff of public agencies and state owned enterprises, administrative staff, and people who are politically adjacent but hold no qualifying office. How long someone stays a PEP after leaving office The default scope is broader than some regulatory definitions. A PEP match is a reason to look, not a legal conclusion. Criminal covers law enforcement and terror watchlists, and records of criminal charges and involvement in criminal activity. Legal covers involvement in civil or criminal litigation, including lawsuits and judgments. It is useful context on legal and reputational risk, and it produces more matches to review than sanctions does.

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Adverse media

Adverse media is negative news coverage that records financial crime or reputational risk that has not reached a sanctions or PEP list. Articles come from over 200,000 news outlets, broadcasters, professional journals and blogs, in more than 140 languages, and new coverage is picked up within minutes. Each article is scored for sentiment and for the risk categories switched on for your organization. Only an article in a category you switched on raises a match.
Adverse media is the highest volume and lowest precision source, and it is off by default. Turn it on once the rest of screening is running cleanly, and start with a narrow category list. Every category you add lengthens the queue.
Standard categories. These are on the settings page under Adverse media categories. The first six are selected by default. Further categories, on request. The wider catalog includes sector specific categories such as cryptocurrency, casinos, real estate, fine art, rare gems and metals, money service businesses, lending, luxury vehicles, non profits and terrorism, and non financial categories such as assault and property damage. They are not on the settings page. If your program needs one, ask your Coverbase account team. An Ad hoc screen can pick its own categories and set an Adverse Media Lookback (days) for that one screen.

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Monitoring cadence

A monitored vendor is re-screened on a cadence set per source. The available cadences are daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, twice a year and annually. Sanctions can also be re-screened whenever a monitored list publishes a change. A cadence can never be more frequent than the cap for your workspace, which by default matches the cadences above. Coverbase decides who is monitored; the cadence comes from the profile group a risk level is assigned to. To monitor one risk level more or less often than the default, ask your Coverbase account team to set up a profile group with that cadence, then pick it for the risk level in the monitoring table on the settings page. The settings section of the screening guide shows where.

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Options Coverbase configures on request

These are set up by Coverbase for your workspace, not on the settings page. Some carry an additional charge. Contact your Coverbase account team or support@coverbase.ai. Changes to scoring and suppression change what reaches your queue, so agree them with your compliance owner before asking for them.

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What screening does not cover

Some outside-in checks live elsewhere in Coverbase:

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Troubleshooting

Coverbase Screening

What screening does, and how it fits into intake and monitoring.

Sanctions screening guide

Reading a match, deciding it, and configuring the policy.

People intelligence guide

The directors and officers who can be screened alongside the vendor.

Corporate registrations guide

The legal entity and registration number a screen is matched on.