When you extend trade credit, you're taking on financial and compliance risk. Checking customer and business names against watchlists helps you avoid doing business with prohibited, high-risk, or fraudulent entities.
What are watchlists?
Watchlists are lists maintained by government agencies and regulators that identify individuals or businesses connected to:
Sanctions or similar restricted activities
Fraud or financial crime
Money laundering or terrorist financing
Enforcement actions or regulatory penalties
Political exposure — for example, Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), individuals who hold (or are closely tied to someone who holds) a prominent public position
How Nuvo screens for watchlist matches
Nuvo checks the company and personnel names from the applicant's matched Secretary of State record against a set of watchlists, and flags any potential matches it finds.
Matches are based on name similarity, not identity. This means a business or person whose name is very similar to — or the same as — a listed entity may be flagged, even if they aren't actually connected to it. Because many companies and individuals share similar names, the false-positive rate on these matches is high.
For example, a search for Steven Lee might surface a flag for Steven Lei or Steven Le — different people who happen to share a similar name.
What to do if you get a potential match
A flagged match is a starting point for review, not a conclusion — given the high false-positive rate, it's important to confirm whether the flagged entity is actually the one applying to your business before you act on it.
To verify a match:
Go to the source watchlist registry directly and compare additional identifiers — the full listed name, address, and any other details — against your applicant's information.
Run a search engine query on the flagged name for additional context that can help confirm or rule out a match.
Contact the applicant if you need more information to determine whether they're a true match.
Watchlists Nuvo screens
Watchlist | Organization | What it covers |
Entity List (EL) | Bureau of Industry and Security | Parties whose involvement in a transaction triggers an export license requirement under the Export Administration Regulations, due to national security or foreign policy concerns. |
Denied Persons List (DPL) | Bureau of Industry and Security | Individuals and companies whose export and reexport privileges have been formally denied by BIS. U.S. persons may not take part in any export transaction involving a listed party. |
Military End User List (MEU) | Bureau of Industry and Security | Parties identified as military end users, or tied to a country's military, intelligence, or security services. Exporting listed items to them requires a license, with no exceptions. |
ITAR/AECA Debarred List (DDTC) | U.S. Department of State | Individuals and companies convicted of, or found to have violated, the Arms Export Control Act. They're barred from participating — directly or indirectly — in the export of defense articles, technical data, or defense services. (Formerly abbreviated "DTC"; the office is now the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, DDTC.) |
Nonproliferation Sanctions (ISN) | U.S. Department of State | Individuals, companies, and governments sanctioned for involvement in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, missile technology, or destabilizing conventional-weapons transfers. Consequences range from asset freezes to export license denials. |
Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN) | Dept. of the Treasury — Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) | Individuals and entities tied to sanctioned countries, terrorism, narcotics trafficking, or other illicit activity. Subject to full blocking sanctions — U.S. persons are generally prohibited from any dealings with them, and their U.S. assets are frozen. |
Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List (SSI) | OFAC | Companies operating in specific sectors of the Russian economy (e.g., finance, energy, defense). Subject to sector-specific restrictions, such as limits on new debt or equity dealings, rather than a full blocking sanction. |
Capta List (CAPTA) | OFAC | Foreign financial institutions subject to correspondent-account or payable-through-account sanctions — they're barred or restricted from maintaining U.S. correspondent banking relationships. (Corrects "CAP" — the official abbreviation is CAPTA.) |
Foreign Sanctions Evaders List (FSE) | OFAC | Foreign individuals and entities found to have evaded U.S. sanctions on Iran or Syria, or to have facilitated deceptive transactions on their behalf. U.S. persons are prohibited from transacting with them. |
Non-SDN Menu-Based Sanctions List (NS-MBS) | OFAC | Parties subject to a customized combination of sanctions selected from a "menu" of options — such as trade or investment restrictions — rather than a full blocking sanction. |
Non-SDN Iranian Sanctions Act List (NS-ISA) | OFAC | Parties sanctioned under the Iran Sanctions Act for activity such as supporting Iran's energy or weapons sectors. Subject to specific restrictions rather than a full asset freeze. |
Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC) | OFAC | Companies identified as operating in, or owned or controlled by, China's military-industrial complex. U.S. persons are barred from buying or selling publicly traded securities of these companies. |
Non-SDN Palestinian Legislative Council List (NS-PLC) | OFAC | Elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council who are also affiliated with a designated terrorist organization. Subject to targeted restrictions short of a full asset freeze. (Corrects "PLC" — the official abbreviation is NS-PLC.) |
All Treasury-administered lists above (SDN, SSI, CAPTA, FSE, NS-MBS, NS-ISA, NS-CMIC, and NS-PLC) are maintained by OFAC as part of its Consolidated Sanctions List.