PEP Screening Tool: PEP Status Check Software
Who is a PEP?
PEP stands for politically exposed person – someone who holds, or has held, a prominent public position. The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 require specific precautions when dealing with politically exposed persons (PEPs).
The positions covered by the PEP term are set out in the PEP job list available on the pepcheckapi.co.uk portal.
How to check whether a person is a PEP
You can, of course, decide for yourself whether a person holds any of the positions defined in the regulations, or ask the person for a written statement about their PEP status – but both practices have significant shortcomings and raise serious doubts.
First of all, every independent PEP status check is time-consuming and requires precise knowledge of the law, in particular AML regulations and central and local government structures.
Second, the people concerned often either do not know or are mistaken about whether they are PEPs – a subject we have covered extensively in a series of publications.
To address these problems, we have worked with leading legal specialists to prepare a PEP status verification service in the form of a computer program available on our platform.
Software for mass and automatic PEP status verification – PEP list as a service
The PEP List module lets you check a person’s status against our constantly updated database of politically exposed persons.
The PEP status is checked by entering the first name and surname of the person being verified.
If the person is on the PEP list, you receive confirmation together with the position held; if the person is not on the list, the result is negative. Every query lets you download the report in PDF format.
For a positive result (is a PEP), additional information may be provided:
- Country in which the person holds the exposed or political position,
- Place of birth,
- Second name,
- PEP category,
- Description of the position held.
You can access the PEP List module both through our analytical platform (web application) and via API (REST JSON). It is available as a credit package (billed per query to the database as part of a purchased package) or as fixed-term prepaid access to the service.
To test the service, we provide a free DEMO packet of 5 requests.
Main features of the PEP status list module:
- Checking PEP status based on first and last name,
- Downloading a PDF report confirming the client’s PEP status,
- Presenting the position of the PEP,
- Presenting the PEP category in line with the AML Act,
- Easy integration with sanctions list screening,
- API integration.
The PEP List module is:
- A search tool that checks whether a given person has PEP status,
- A tool for generating a PDF report from the verification,
- A tool that meets the requirements of the AML Act,
- An AML and KYC tool compliant with the GDPR.
FAQ
Who is a politically exposed person (PEP)?
A politically exposed person is someone who holds or has held a prominent public function, together with their close family members and known associates. Banks and other obliged entities are required to apply enhanced due diligence to PEPs.
How do I check whether a person is a PEP?
You check the person’s name against a PEP database. With PEP Status List you can verify a single person manually, or run automated and mass checks through the platform.
Is there a PEP screening API?
Yes. The PEP Status List module is available over a REST API, so you can screen people automatically as part of your onboarding or KYC workflow. PEP and sanctions screening are also available together in one API through AML Scanner.
Can I check many people at once?
Yes. The module is built for mass and automatic verification, so you can screen a whole customer base and re-screen it periodically.
How is the PEP list licensed?
The PEP list is licensed either as a fixed-term subscription with no request limit (for example a monthly plan) or as pre-paid query packages. Pre-paid packages work like pay-as-you-go and have no expiry date.
Find out more
Looking for a reliable PEP check? Our PEP screening software combines a proprietary database of politically exposed persons with automated, bulk PEP screening and a REST API. Start with a free PEP search on our UK PEP screening tool (a DEMO packet of 5 requests) and scale to full PEP screening as your compliance needs grow.