World-Check Risk Intelligence: what the database holds
World-Check is LSEG’s database of people and organisations linked to sanctions, PEP status, law and regulatory enforcement and adverse media, updated daily. You use it through the World-Check One platform, an API or a data file. Its main limit is false positives, which full identifiers at onboarding reduce.
This guide is for compliance teams deciding how to use World-Check data in client screening. Product facts come from LSEG’s own pages and fact sheets, and Australian rules from the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), checked on 21 October 2026.
What is World-Check Risk Intelligence?
World-Check is LSEG’s database of people and organisations that carry financial crime or reputational risk. LSEG builds it from public-domain sources, removes duplicates and structures each subject into one record. It has been a know your customer (KYC) product since 2000.
The database is not a screening tool on its own. You use it through LSEG’s software, its APIs or a downloaded data file, covered below. For the platform itself, see our guide to World-Check One: screening, login and API.
What does a World-Check record contain?
- Risk types
- Sanctions, PEPs, enforcement, adverse mediaPEPs include family members and close associates
- Risk categories
- More than 30
- Lists
- More than 700Sanction, watch, regulatory and law enforcement lists
- Coverage
- 240 countriesResearch in over 65 languages
- Updates
- Daily
Sources: LSEG, World-Check KYC screening; LSEG, World-Check Data File fact sheet (PDF); LSEG, World-Check One brochure (PDF); LSEG, World-Check One Reviewed
LSEG says World-Check covers sanctions, PEPs, law and regulatory enforcement and relevant adverse media. Each record consolidates what is known about an individual or organisation, with identifiers and source references. LSEG also says it draws on more than 700 sanction, watch, regulatory and law enforcement lists, with research in over 65 languages covering 240 countries.
LSEG’s data file fact sheet lists what the records cover:
- PEPs, their family members and close associates
- state-owned and state-invested enterprises, and their senior officials
- people and entities on sanctions lists, with control and ownership details
- people and entities on law enforcement and regulatory watch lists
- people and entities of interest across more than 30 risk categories
Records are linked to associates and networks, so a match can show who else is connected. LSEG says it applies defined inclusion criteria and removal and deletion policies. For what counts as negative news, see our adverse media screening guide.
How can you get World-Check data?
Ways to use World-Check data
| Option | Who does the matching | Ongoing screening | Record of decisions |
|---|---|---|---|
| World-Check One platform | LSEG software, in a browser | Yes, rescreening built in | Cases and a date-stamped audit trail in the platform |
| World-Check One API | LSEG matching engine, called from your CRM or system | Optional | Cases in the platform; your system holds the outcome |
| Zero Footprint Screening API | LSEG matching engine, single name checks only | No | Nothing stored by LSEG; you keep the record |
| World-Check Data File | Your own screening system | Your system rescreens against each download | Your system; downloads daily, weekly or monthly |
Sources: LSEG, World-Check One; LSEG, World-Check One API fact sheet (PDF); LSEG, Zero Footprint Screening API (PDF); LSEG, World-Check Data File fact sheet (PDF) Reviewed
LSEG says World-Check data is available through purpose-built screening software, APIs and selected integrated solutions. The choice decides who runs the matching and where the record of each decision lives.
If you screen in LSEG’s platform, the case history sits there. If you load the data file into your own system, the matching and the audit trail are yours to build and keep.
Why does World-Check flag the wrong person?
Most false positives come from thin data. A common name with no date of birth matches many records, and names transliterated from other alphabets can be spelt several ways.
AUSTRAC makes the same point about sanctions: names vary, especially non-English names written in English. It says you may need to check alternative spellings and use fuzzy searching, which also raises the number of near matches to review.
Three things cut the noise:
- Collect full legal name, date of birth and nationality at onboarding, before you screen.
- Screen with those secondary identifiers, which LSEG says help reduce false positives.
- Set secondary matching rules by list, so a strong identifier mismatch closes a match.
Record why each match was discounted. A cleared match with no reason looks the same as one nobody reviewed.
Is World-Check enough for Australian sanctions and PEP checks?
Key point
Under AUSTRAC guidance, an Australian reporting entity checks its customers against DFAT’s Consolidated List, which names everyone designated under Australian sanctions laws.
A commercial database can include that list, but check that yours does, and keep the evidence of each check.
For PEPs, a match starts the work rather than ending it. AUSTRAC says being a PEP does not mean someone is involved in unlawful activity, and you assess each customer’s risk case by case. Our guide to enhanced due diligence for PEPs covers the next steps.
World-Check also cannot tell you whether the person in front of you is who they say they are. Identity verification is a separate check, done first.
Frequently asked questions
Is World-Check free to search?
No. World-Check is a commercial product. Even API access has to be enabled through LSEG product licensing.
How often is World-Check updated?
LSEG says World-Check data is updated daily.
Is World-Check Risk Intelligence the same as Refinitiv World-Check?
Yes. World-Check is now sold under the LSEG name. Older documents and searches still say Refinitiv.
Next steps
Whichever way you buy the data, the screening result has to sit with the customer record and your decision.
StackGo’s IdentityCheck runs identity verification and PEP and sanctions screening inside the customer relationship management (CRM) or practice software you already use, through our Screen workflow. See how IdentityCheck supports AUSTRAC Tranche 2 compliance.
Sources
The facts on this page come from these sources, checked on 21 October 2026.