Free PEP search & sanctions check — with the full result

Most "free sanctions check" sites give you a name-match teaser and put the actual result — the list, the identifiers, the evidence — behind a paywall. FIRMCY does it differently: sign up, get 100 welcome credits, and every screening returns the complete result with a report you can file in your compliance records.

What the free check includes

What is a politically exposed person (PEP)?

EU anti-money-laundering rules distinguish three categories for PEP screening:

1. The office-holder — a person entrusted with a prominent public function, such as a head of state or government, minister, member of parliament, senior judge, central-bank board member, ambassador, senior armed-forces officer, senior executive of a state-owned enterprise or leading political-party official.
2. A family member — including a spouse or equivalent partner, children and their spouses or partners, and parents.
3. A person known to be a close associate — including a joint beneficial owner or someone with a close business relationship with the office-holder.

Cyprus AML Law L.188(I)/2007, section 2 includes all three categories in the PEP definition for customer due diligence.

PEP status is not an allegation — it is a risk classification. The law presumes that prominent public functions carry elevated exposure to bribery and corruption, so obliged entities must identify PEP relationships and manage them with enhanced due diligence: senior-management approval, source-of-wealth and source-of-funds measures, and enhanced ongoing monitoring.

How the PEP search works

Type a name — the engine searches a worldwide PEP database and the major sanctions regimes together. Matching is built for real-world names: transliteration variants (including Greek↔Latin, so a Cypriot officer found as «Παμπορίδης» also matches "Pamboridis"), spelling variants, and aliases. Add a date of birth or nationality and every candidate match is weighed for identity plausibility — so a namesake with the wrong birth decade is flagged as implausible instead of wasting your review time. Each result states which lists were checked, what matched and why, and the whole run is written into an audit-ready report with the evidence retained.

Why compliance teams use it

A free check is only useful if you can rely on it. Every FIRMCY screening records what was searched, which lists were checked and what was found, keeps the evidence, and produces a report that stands up when a supervisor — CySEC, ICPAC, the Bar Association or the National Betting Authority — asks how you screened a client. See which jurisdictions currently trigger enhanced due diligence on our FATF & EU high-risk country lists page, and stay current with the free weekly Cyprus AML briefing.

Frequently asked questions

Is the PEP and sanctions check really free?

Yes. Every new organisation receives 100 welcome credits on signup — enough for 100 sanctions and PEP screenings — with no card required and no obligation.

Which sanctions lists does the free check cover?

Global sanctions regimes including UN, EU, OFAC (US) and UK (OFSI), plus a worldwide politically-exposed-persons database. Adverse-media and jurisdiction-risk checks are included in fuller assessments.

Do I get the full result or a teaser?

The full result: every match with its source list, identity-plausibility analysis against date of birth and nationality, and a downloadable audit-ready report you can file — not a redacted preview behind a paywall.

What is a politically exposed person (PEP)?

PEP screening covers three categories: the office-holder entrusted with a prominent public function, their family members, and persons known to be close associates. EU anti-money-laundering rules define each category; Cyprus AML Law L.188(I)/2007, section 2 includes all three in the PEP definition for customer due diligence.

Why do I have to check whether a client is a PEP?

EU and Cyprus obliged entities are required to have risk-management systems that determine whether a customer or beneficial owner is a PEP, and to apply enhanced due diligence when one is: senior-management approval for the relationship, measures to establish source of wealth and source of funds, and enhanced ongoing monitoring. PEP status is not an accusation of wrongdoing — it is a risk classification the law obliges you to identify and manage.

How often should I re-screen a client?

At onboarding, on any trigger event (new adverse information, a change in ownership or transaction pattern), and periodically in line with the client's risk band. Because sanctions lists change daily and PEP status changes with elections and appointments, one-off screening goes stale; FIRMCY's monitoring can re-screen enrolled parties automatically and alert you on new findings.

Is PEP and sanctions screening lawful under GDPR?

Yes, when done to comply with AML obligations: compliance with a legal obligation is a lawful basis for the processing, and screening is a proportionate means of meeting it. FIRMCY processes screening data within the EU as your processor under a signed data-processing agreement.