UN Security Council Sanctions Screening API

Screen against the global baseline sanctions list — the UN Security Council Consolidated List, binding on all 193 UN member states.

About the UN Security Council Consolidated List

The United Nations Security Council Consolidated List is the foundational sanctions list in international law. Maintained by the UN Security Council's various sanctions committees, this list aggregates all individuals, entities, and groups subject to UN sanctions measures across all active UN sanctions regimes. Unlike national sanctions lists that apply to specific jurisdictions, UN Security Council sanctions are binding on all 193 UN member states under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, making this list the universal baseline for global sanctions compliance.

The Consolidated List is compiled from the designations made by over a dozen sanctions committees, each corresponding to a specific Security Council resolution or set of resolutions. These include the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee (established pursuant to Resolutions 1267/1989/2253), the DPRK (North Korea) Sanctions Committee (Resolution 1718), the Iran Sanctions Committee (Resolution 2231), the Somalia Sanctions Committee, the Central African Republic Sanctions Committee, the South Sudan Sanctions Committee, the Yemen Sanctions Committee, the Libya Sanctions Committee, the Mali Sanctions Committee, and the Haiti Sanctions Committee, among others.

Each entry on the Consolidated List includes comprehensive identifying information such as full names, aliases (in both original scripts and transliterated forms), dates and places of birth, nationalities, passport and national identification numbers, and the specific Security Council resolutions under which the designation was made. The list also specifies which sanctions measures apply — typically a combination of asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes.

Legal Significance and Global Reach

Because UN sanctions derive from Security Council resolutions adopted under Chapter VII, they carry the force of international law. Every UN member state is obligated to implement these measures domestically. In practice, this means that the individuals and entities on the UN Consolidated List appear — either directly or by transposition — on the national sanctions lists of most countries worldwide. The EU, UK, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, and Japan all maintain domestic implementations of UN sanctions designations.

For organizations operating across multiple jurisdictions, screening against the UN Consolidated List provides a common denominator of compliance. If a counterparty appears on the UN list, they are almost certainly sanctioned in every major jurisdiction. Conversely, a hit on a national list (such as OFAC's SDN List) that does not correspond to a UN designation indicates a unilateral sanction that may not apply in all jurisdictions.

Update Process and Frequency

The UN Consolidated List is updated whenever a sanctions committee adds, removes, or amends a listing. While this does not follow a fixed schedule, updates typically occur several times per month. The UN publishes the list in XML format, which includes structured data for all identifying fields. Veridex monitors the UN data feed continuously and ingests updates within minutes of publication, ensuring that your screening results reflect the latest designations.

Who Should Screen Against the UN List

• Multinational corporations operating across jurisdictions
• Banks and financial institutions with correspondent banking relationships
• International shipping and logistics companies
• NGOs and humanitarian organizations operating in conflict zones
• Arms dealers and defense contractors (for arms embargo compliance)
• Travel and aviation companies (for travel ban compliance)
• Any organization seeking to establish a global compliance baseline

Sample Screening Result

Below is an example API response showing a match against the UN Consolidated List for a publicly designated entity.

// POST /v1/screen
{
  "query": "Al-Qaida",
  "lists": ["UN_CONSOLIDATED"],
  "hits": [
    {
      "list": "UN_CONSOLIDATED",
      "entity_name": "AL-QAIDA",
      "type": "Entity",
      "score": 0.99,
      "un_reference": "QDe.004",
      "committee": "1267/1989/2253 ISIL and Al-Qaida",
      "measures": ["Asset Freeze", "Travel Ban", "Arms Embargo"],
      "listed_on": "2001-10-06",
      "aliases": [
        "Al-Qa'ida",
        "The Base"
      ],
      "match_basis": "exact_name"
    }
  ],
  "screened_at": "2026-04-08T12:00:00Z",
  "latency_ms": 39
}