PEP and sanctions screening for organisations in Japan
Screen customers in Japan against global sanctions and PEP data, with matching for transliterated and non-Latin names and a decision record a supervisor can follow
- 1,000+watchlists
- <1sresponse
- 24hrefresh
- 195countries
A sample screening console: a name check, scored matches and an AI Analysis answer.
Screening in production for
What every scan checks
Sanctions
OFAC, UN, EU and HMT lists
PEPs
Foreign PEPs, family and close associates
Japanese names
Original script and transliterated forms
Adverse media
Negative news and enforcement
Real-time
API and batch screening
Audit trail
Decision record for FSA
Matching built for transliterated names
Japanese names in kanji, hiragana, katakana or Latin transcription are matched with phonetic and fuzzy logic that handles transliteration variants
- Original script name fields
- Phonetic matching
- Secondary identifiers
A sample matching result: name variants scored against a threshold, with weak matches filtered out.
Ask AI Analysis about a match
Ask AI Analysis about a matched profile to understand which identifiers align and why the match was raised
- Enabled per organisation
- Single scans and API
- Explains, never decides
A sample AI Analysis panel answering a question about a matched profile.
Daily re-screening
Monitored customers are re-screened daily, with new listings and profile changes raising alerts
- Re-screened daily
- Full rescan at renewal
- Alerts and API callbacks
A sample monitoring timeline: daily re-screens with one alert on a new listing.
Decision record for FSA inspection
Each match keeps its source list, score, identifiers, reviewer and outcome for inspection
- Decision and risk level
- Assignee and history
- Evidence retained
A sample case record with a decision history and a recorded outcome.
Global sanctions and PEP data for Japanese organisations
- 1,000+
- Global watchlists screened
- <1s
- Average screening response
- 24h
- Watchlist refresh cycle
- 195
- Countries covered
Assurance
ISO/IEC 27001:2022
ISO/IEC 27701:2019
GDPR
DORA
Three ways to run a scan
Web app
Interface in English and Japanese. Reports in Japanese.
Batch upload
CSV or XML with preview
REST API
Screening inside your systems
Common questions
Does Japanese law require screening of domestic PEPs?
Not as a statutory trigger. Article 12(3) of the Order for Enforcement covers foreign PEPs, their family members and companies they control, not members of the Diet, ministers or prefectural governors. A firm may still rate domestic political exposure as high risk under its own risk assessment, and many internationally active groups do.
Where does sanctions screening sit in Japanese law?
The Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act supplies the sanctions layer. It obliges banks, funds transfer service providers, currency exchange operators and crypto-asset exchange service providers to confirm customer identity so that asset freezes take effect, with its own seven-year record retention rule.
Why do Japanese names produce false matches and missed matches?
Most kanji have several possible readings, so the written form does not fix the pronunciation, and the same name can arrive as kanji, hiragana, katakana or a Latin transcription. Matching that allows for transliteration and phonetic variants, narrowed by secondary identifiers such as date of birth, handles this better than exact spelling.
How is this different from the global PEP and sanctions screening page?
The screening product is the same. This page covers how it applies to organisations operating in Japan: the foreign PEP scope in Japanese law, the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, and Japanese name data. The global page describes the product for every market.
Further reading
More for Japan
See MemberCheck in action
A short walkthrough of screening, verification and ongoing monitoring in one platform, set to the thresholds and jurisdictions your programme actually uses.