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Adverse Media Check

What is the Adverse Media check?​

An Adverse Media Check identifies any negative information about an individual that has been published in various media sources. This wide ranging database check establishes whether an individual's or company's name appears in association with anything from criminal activity and international sanctions through to regulatory penalties and Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

The check draws on more than 600,000 individuals and companies with connections (known or suspected) to illegal activities, sanctions and regulatory penalties as well as PEPs, influential persons, government corporations, excluded parties and companies of interest.

Data sources for the check come from over 1,000 lists from over 300 enforcement agencies, criminal courts, and investigative news sources from around the world. The check will undertake a search for: Politically exposed persons, Sanction lists, Enforcement, Adverse media, Influential persons, Associated entities, Government corporations, Excluded parties, Companies of interest. This check does include a search for adverse media and is a targeted check that looks for high level matches on items like terrorism, organised crime, modern slavery, financial crime, fraud, bribery, corruption and cybercrime which have links to finance.

Identifying negative media coverage related to financial misconduct, criminal activities, or unethical behaviour helps organisations avoid hiring individuals who could pose reputational or operational risks.

Check Coverage​

UK and Global

Why Use Access Screening for the Check?​

  • Rapid results
  • Check can be added to your existing workflows
  • Allows you to run all your checks from one place in Access Screening

How it Works​

Results​

Please note: Access Screening will display the results of the check only and do not interpret the data. It is your responsibility to carry out your due diligence to mitigate your own risk.

The adverse media check scoring system uses 100 and 0 as benchmarks, which provides a quantifiable measure of the risk level associated with an individual's media coverage.

100 Score: A score of 100 generally signifies a high level of risk. This means that the adverse media check has identified significant negative information about the individual, such as involvement in criminal activities, financial misconduct, or other serious unethical behaviours. A high score indicates multiple adverse reports or very severe incidents that could pose substantial risks to the organisation if the individual were to be employed or associated with it.

0 Score: A score of 0 indicates no identified risks or adverse information. This suggests that the individual has a clean media record with no negative coverage that would raise concerns. A score of 0 means the individual has not been involved in any activities that would be flagged as risky or harmful based on the media scan.

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