Overview
When you screen and monitor an individual client, Legl checks their details against a set of screening categories. These categories control the types of risk Legl looks for, from sanctions and politically exposed persons through to adverse media. This article explains what each category and option means, so you can decide what to include.
What this covers
The screening categories used when monitoring individual clients
What each category means and the type of risk it identifies
How adverse media risk types are grouped into AML-relevant and non-AML categories
The adverse media country and match sensitivity options
How these settings work
Each category represents a different type of risk that Legl screens your client against. When a category is enabled, any matches found in that category are returned in the client's results for your team to review.
Some categories can be refined further. For PEPs, you can choose which seniority levels to include. For adverse media, you can choose which individual risk types to screen for, and how widely to search.
These settings apply as a firm-wide default. The label at the top of the page shows whether you are using the system default or a custom configuration.
Where to find these settings in Legl
Go to Settings in the left-hand menu.
Select Monitoring.
Select Individuals monitoring to view and configure the screening categories.
ℹ️ Further guidance
For step-by-step help changing these settings, see How to configure monitoring settings.
The screening categories
Each category below can be enabled or disabled. Here is what each one covers.
Sanctions
Matches your client against sanctions lists issued by governments and international bodies, such as OFSI, OFAC, the EU, and the UN. Being named on a sanctions list is one of the most serious results, as firms must not act for sanctioned individuals or entities.
PEP (politically exposed person)
Identifies clients who hold, or have held, a prominent public position, along with their close associates. PEPs are grouped into four levels by seniority, from senior public figures (level 1) through to local officials (level 4). You can enable or disable each level individually.
Warnings
Flags clients named on regulator and law enforcement warning lists, including investor alerts and disciplinary notices.
Fitness & Probity
Checks whether a client has been disqualified, debarred, or otherwise found unfit to hold a regulated role by a professional or financial regulator.
Adverse media
Surfaces negative news coverage about a client. Adverse media is broken down into individual risk types, grouped into AML-relevant and non-AML categories, so you can screen for only the types relevant to your firm.
Adverse media risk types
Adverse media risk types are split into two groups. AML-relevant types cover risks most closely linked to money laundering and terrorist financing. Non-AML types cover other reputational or conduct risks that may still matter depending on your firm's risk appetite. You can enable or disable each type individually.
AML related
General concerns — coverage linking the client to money laundering or financial-crime concerns that do not fall under a more specific type
Financial crime — coverage linking the client to money laundering, bribery, corruption, tax evasion, or similar financial crime
Fraud-linked — coverage linking the client to fraud, scams, or deception offences
Narcotics — coverage linking the client to drug trafficking or other narcotics offences
Terrorism financing — coverage linking the client to terrorism or the financing of terrorism
Cybercrime — coverage linking the client to hacking, online fraud, or other cyber-enabled crime
Violence — coverage linking the client to violent crime connected to money laundering or terrorist financing
Non-AML risk types
Regulatory breaches — coverage about regulatory or compliance breaches that are not money laundering offences in themselves
Financial difficulty — coverage about insolvency, bankruptcy, or other financial difficulty
Other financial misconduct — coverage about financial misconduct that falls outside the AML-relevant financial crime type
Property crime — coverage linking the client to theft, burglary, or other property crime
Violence — coverage linking the client to violent crime not connected to money laundering or terrorist financing
Other serious — coverage about other serious crimes not covered by the types above
Other minor — coverage about minor offences; this type tends to return a high volume of results
Adverse media country and match sensitivity options
Include adverse media from all countries
When this is off, adverse media is only included when the article's country matches the client's country. This keeps results focused on local clients. When it is on, adverse media is included regardless of country.
Match sensitivity
Match sensitivity controls how strictly a client's name must match a name on a screening list. It uses a matching technique sometimes called fuzziness, which lets Legl return a match even when there are small differences in spelling between the name you screened and a name on a list.
These small differences usually happen for one of two reasons: the name was entered manually and contains a typo, or the name has been spelled or transliterated differently from another language or script. Match sensitivity allows up to one character difference per word in the name.
A higher setting widens the search, so more spelling variations are caught and more results are returned to review. A lower setting is stricter and returns fewer results.
Which setting to choose depends on your firm's risk-based approach and how confident you are that client names are entered correctly. If names come directly from identity documents you can use a stricter setting; if clients enter their own details, a higher setting helps catch typos.
What is the difference between the 0.0 and Exact settings?
Both are strict, but they are not the same. The 0.0 setting does not allow any character differences in a name, but still uses Legl's other matching techniques, such as recognising shortened names, alternative spellings, and titles like Mr or Dr. The Exact setting is stricter still: it returns exact matches only and turns all of those other techniques off, so even a title or an extra middle name will stop a match.
When you would use this
Review these settings when setting up monitoring for the first time, or when your firm's risk-based approach changes. Adjusting which categories and adverse media types are enabled, and how widely matching searches, lets you focus screening on the risks most relevant to your firm and reduce results you do not need to review.
Key things to be aware of
These settings apply as a firm-wide default and affect all users.
Turning a category off means matches in that category will not be returned. Consider whether any team relies on those results before changing them.
A higher match sensitivity catches more name variations but can return more results to review. A stricter setting returns fewer.
A match does not mean a client is definitely sanctioned, a PEP, or linked to the risk type. It means their details may match a listing and require review.
Important information
Only Admin users can view and change these settings.
Changes apply to future screening and monitoring, not to results already returned.
PEP levels and adverse media risk types can be enabled or disabled individually within their categories.
The "Other minor" adverse media type tends to return a high volume of results, so consider this before enabling it.
Narrowing categories can reduce false positives, but make sure you still cover the risks your firm is required to screen for.