Compliance3 min readUpdated October 15, 2026

What Is Adverse Media Screening?

What adverse media screening is, what the EBA and FATF say about it, how it differs from name screening, and why a name-only hit needs a second identifier.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 3 sources

Article summary

TL;DR

Adverse media screening is the search of news and other public sources for negative information about a customer or its owners, such as fraud, money laundering, sanctions evasion or corruption. EU guidelines list adverse media reports as a customer risk factor. Unlike name screening, it reads free text, so analysts confirm each hit before it affects a decision.

Adverse media screening looks for reports of financial crime in news, court records and regulator notices, not in official lists.
The EBA ML/TF Risk Factors Guidelines (EBA/GL/2021/02) ask whether there are adverse media reports about the customer or the beneficial owner, and how credible they are.
A missing conviction does not clear a story on its own, according to the EBA.
Articles rarely carry a date of birth, so a name-only hit needs a second identifier before anyone acts on it.

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A customer can be absent from every sanctions list and still be named in a fraud trial or a bribery probe. Adverse media screening, also called negative news screening, is how compliance teams find that.

What is adverse media screening?

Adverse media screening searches news sites, court records, regulator notices and other public sources for reports that link a customer, its beneficial owners or its directors to financial crime: fraud, money laundering, sanctions evasion, bribery and corruption, terrorist financing. It is part of know your customer checks, next to sanctions and PEP screening.

The EBA's ML/TF Risk Factors Guidelines list it among the factors that describe a customer's reputation: "Are there adverse media reports or other relevant sources of information about the customer, for example are there any allegations of criminality or terrorism against the customer or the beneficial owner?" Firms judge credibility on "the quality and independence of the source of the data and the persistence of reporting", and "the absence of criminal convictions alone may not be sufficient to dismiss allegations of wrongdoing".2 For high-risk customers, the same guidelines name "adverse media searches" as an enhanced due diligence measure (guideline 4.64).2 The 2024 amendment repeats the wording for crypto-asset service providers.3

FATF's June 2013 guidance on politically exposed persons notes that firms "frequently use the internet and media as sources of information" on PEPs, "although noting that information that is retrieved may not in all cases be comprehensive or reliable" (paragraph 60).1

Name screening vs adverse media screening

	Name screening	Adverse media screening
Sources	Official lists: sanctions, PEP, internal block lists	News, court records, regulator notices, other public sources
Matching	Name against a list entry that often carries date of birth, nationality or ID numbers	Name found in free text, often with nothing else to compare
Output	A list hit; a confirmed sanctions match means block or reject	A risk signal: higher risk rating, enhanced due diligence or exit

A news story rarely gives a date of birth, so a name-only hit is weak evidence. A common name can appear in many unrelated stories. As with name screening, analysts confirm the match with a second identifier, such as date of birth, company number, address or role in the company, before acting, and they record why each hit was kept or cleared. The EBA test of source quality, independence and persistence then decides how much weight a confirmed story gets.

When it runs: onboarding and ongoing monitoring

At onboarding, the check covers the business and its beneficial owners as part of underwriting. News keeps coming after approval, so the EBA asks firms to review regularly "media reports that are relevant to the sectors or jurisdictions in which the firm is active" (guideline 1.9).2 Existing customers are rescreened through ongoing monitoring, more often when their risk rating is higher. For how payment providers weigh merchant risk overall, see our guide to payment risk management.

How Tagada helps

Every merchant reviewed before going live

Each file is still underwritten, with enhanced review on regulated verticals. Some businesses are refused, such as those using falsified documents, selling counterfeits, circumventing chargebacks, using deceptive trial or subscription marketing, or listed on MATCH.

Updated on October 15, 2026

Nick Bonnassies

CMO at Tagada

CMO at Tagada. Before Tagada, Nick built direct-to-consumer brands that generated over $115M in sales, raised over $25M in crowdfunding and sold two of them. He also works as a fractional CMO on marketing operations and AI systems.

Frequently asked questions

What is an adverse media search check?

It is one search for negative news about a person or a company, run at a set moment such as onboarding or a periodic review. The analyst searches the name in news and public sources, removes stories about other people with the same name, and records what was found and why it matters or not. Screening is the same check run as a repeatable process, often by software.

Does adverse media screening apply to trading firms?

Yes, in both directions. A trading firm is screened when it opens an account with a bank or broker, and it may screen its own clients and counterparties. In the EU, the customer risk factors in EBA/GL/2021/02 apply to all credit and financial institutions, and the guidelines add sector chapters for trade finance providers (Guideline 13) and investment firms (Guideline 15).

Is adverse media screening mandatory?

It depends on the country and the risk. The EBA guidelines tell firms to consider adverse media when they assess a customer's reputation and list adverse media searches among enhanced due diligence measures, but they also say the risk factors are not exhaustive and firms need not use all of them in every case. FATF's PEP guidance says commercial screening databases are not required by its Recommendations. Check your own regulator's rules.

Sources

Checked October 15, 2026

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