Sanctions and PEP Screening Module in Flowyer: Due Diligence from a Single Search

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26/05/2026

Zoltán Kéri

Sanctions and PEP Screening Module in Flowyer: Due Diligence from a Single Search

Legal client due diligence today goes beyond merely recording client data. The rules on anti-money laundering, sanctions lists, and the requirements for politically exposed persons (PEPs) impose an increasing administrative burden on law firms.

Checking a client or opposing party can involve multiple databases: UN list, EU financial sanctions list, OFAC list, PEP registries, and, if applicable, Hungarian national sanctions data. Checking these separately is time-consuming, difficult to document, and often challenging to accurately recall during a later audit what the firm examined, when, and with what result.

Flowyer's new sanctions and PEP screening module simplifies this process: it allows for the screening of clients, opponents, or other relevant persons and organizations across all relevant data sources from a single search interface.

One Search, Five Databases

The new module currently manages data from five main sources:

UN sanctions list,
EU financial sanctions list,
OFAC sanctions list,
PEP list containing politically exposed persons,
Hungarian national sanctions list.

The system searches through approximately 80,000 active entries in total. In legal practice, this means there is no need to open separate interfaces, use different search logics, and manually document the results. Flowyer runs the screening from a unified search.

Searchable by Name, Name Fragment, or Tax Number

It is sufficient to enter the name, name fragment, alias, or – where available – tax number of the client, opponent, or other relevant person in the search field.

The module supports several search modes:

Diacritic-Insensitive Search

The default search ignores accents and special characters. For example, a search for “Milosevic” may yield results even if the name appears as “Milošević” in the database.

Exact Match

This can be useful if the firm wants to specifically search for a particular name, company, or identifier.

Fuzzy Search

The system can provide relevant results even in cases of minor typos. This is particularly important for international names, transliterations, or cases where the available data is not completely accurate.

The search is aided by an international character keyboard, supporting the input of Slavic, Western and Eastern European, Cyrillic, and Arabic characters. Cyrillic names can also be searched in their ASCII-transliterated form, allowing the system to handle multiple writing styles.

Detailed Results Panel

The search results do not merely appear as a name list. The right-hand details panel provides an overview of each result.

The panel may display, among other things:

full name and ASCII transliteration,
type of list, such as UN, EU, OFAC, PEP, or Hungarian list,
aliases,
classification as a natural or legal person,
date of listing,
name of the sanctions program,
position held in the case of a PEP,
tax number, address, or beneficial ownership data, if available,
date of last record update.

This is important because the lawyer needs to see not only whether there is a match but also the nature of the match, which source it comes from, and how relevant it is to the case at hand.

Linkable to Client and Case

One of the module's most important practical advantages is that the search result does not remain separate information. The result can be directly linked to the specific client and case.

This is particularly useful in law firm operations because the documentation of due diligence does not continue to exist in separate folders, screenshots, or manual notes, but is linked to the client card and case file.

In the event of a later review, internal control, or regulatory inquiry, it is thus retrievable when, by whom, and based on what data the firm conducted the screening.

PDF Report with One Click

Flowyer can also generate an official screening report in PDF format from the search result.

The report may include:

identification data,
results according to the checked lists,
details of the findings,
legal reference to the AML Act,
date and documented result of the screening.

This is particularly valuable if the firm needs to prove during an audit, regulatory inquiry, or internal review that the due diligence was conducted.

Audit Log and 8-Year Retrievability

The module automatically records every search in the firm's own database. This is not a simple search history but an auditable record.

The system creates a so-called “frozen snapshot” of the findings. This means that it can later be reconstructed what the lawyer saw at the time of the screening. This is particularly important because sanctions and PEP lists are constantly changing: individuals and organizations may be added, removed, or certain data may be modified.

Flowyer's goal is for the firm to be able to prove not only that it searched but also what information was available at that specific time.

Previous screenings can also be viewed on a separate page. Here, filtering is possible by period, staff member, client, or result. The data can be exported in Excel format, providing a well-processed summary for audit or internal review needs. Additionally, PDF export is available in a client-level, certificate-like format.

Daily Automatic Updates

International data sources are automatically updated daily in the early morning hours.

Records that have been removed are not physically deleted but placed in a soft-delete status. The reason for this is auditability: in a previous screening, it may be important that data that was active or visible at the time can still be retrieved later.

OpenSanctions Integration and Dual Verification

The module also features OpenSanctions.org integration. Where technical matching is possible, the “Open Original Source” button takes you directly to the entity's profile.

This is useful for two reasons. First, the lawyer can quickly view the original external source. Second, it allows for dual verification, meaning that the result displayed in Flowyer can also be checked in an external, well-known database.

Handling PEPs According to AML Rules

Screening for politically exposed persons requires special attention. Flowyer's PEP list is based on Wikidata sources and handles prime ministers, ministers, parliament members, and other prominent public figures by country.

The system also considers the one-year grace period: those who leave office remain in PEP status for another year. Expired PEP statuses are automatically managed by the system daily, while snapshots related to previous screenings are preserved.

Access Control Tailored to Office Operations

The module's access rules are tailored to law firm operations.

General search and audit logs are available to the firm's users. Linking screenings to clients or cases can only be done by the user who ran the search.

This solution supports both daily office work and controlled access management.

Multilingual Functionality

The module is available in five languages: Hungarian, English, German, Italian, and Romanian. This applies not only to the user interface but also to the exported PDF and Excel documents.

This can be particularly useful for firms working with international clients, foreign partners, or multilingual internal operations.

What Does This Mean in Practice for the Lawyer?

The main advantage of the new sanctions and PEP screening module is that due diligence does not appear as separate, manual administration but as a natural part of Flowyer's client and case management.

The practical benefits are measurable:

multiple databases can be checked from a single search,
time spent on manual searches is reduced,
results are automatically documented,
screening can be linked to clients and cases,
it can later be retrieved what the firm saw at the time of screening,
PDF and Excel exports can be prepared for audits,
the system supports data source currency with daily updates.

An average screening thus does not mean opening multiple separate websites, conducting separate searches, and manual saves, but a documented process lasting just a few seconds.

Less Administration, Stronger Compliance

Sanctions and PEP screening is a task where speed alone is not enough. Equally important is retrievability, documentation, and the ability of the firm to later prove that due diligence was conducted.

Flowyer's new module provides practical assistance in this: it brings together search, result recording, audit logs, and report generation in one place.

This way, not only can you perform the screening faster, but you also have a stronger evidentiary background in case you need to prove that client due diligence was conducted later.