Sanctions screening compares customer names, addresses, and transaction details against regulatory lists of prohibited individuals, entities, and countries to prevent illegal dealings. Financial institutions screen in real-time at onboarding and throughout relationships, using fuzzy matching algorithms to account for name variations and transliterations. A bank processing a wire transfer screens both parties against OFAC, UN, and EU sanctions lists, blocking matches for investigation. False positives require manual review to distinguish legitimate customers from sanctioned parties with similar names. Effective screening requires updated list data, tuned matching parameters, documented review procedures, and audit trails demonstrating compliance. Failures risk substantial penalties, license revocations, and criminal prosecution.