New LSEG Risk Intelligence dataset reveals ownership drives a third of sanctions-linked securities exposure
LSEG Risk Intelligence today announced the launch of the Sanctioned Securities Data File, a new instrument-level dataset designed to help financial institutions identify securities that are directly or indirectly connected to sanctioned entities. Developed in partnership with BIGTXN, a leader in advanced data analytics, the solution delivers unprecedented clarity and efficiency for sanctions compliance across global markets.
Early analysis from the dataset shows that while most sanctions-linked instruments are associated with explicit legal designations, approximately one-third of all sanctions-linked instruments are connected through ownership and control relationships. For example, a company may not be sanctioned itself, but if a sanctioned parent owns or controls it, the securities it issues still fall within scope.
As sanctions regimes continue to expand and diverge across jurisdictions, firms face growing challenges in determining whether the securities they trade, hold or service are subject to regulation. The new Sanctioned Securities Data File provides a systematic way to map sanctions designations to real financial instruments related to entities on the LSEG World-Check platform. Traditional list-based screening approaches often lack the granularity required to detect this exposure consistently at the instrument level.
Chris Moyser, Head of Strategy at LSEG Risk Intelligence, comments:
“Sanctions regimes today extend far beyond simple lists of designated names. Financial institutions need a systematic way to understand how those designations translate into real exposure across securities, ownership structures and corporate actions. The Sanctioned Securities Data File is designed to bring that clarity – helping firms identify risk that is often difficult to detect using traditional screening approaches.”
Further analysis from the Sanctioned Securities Data File highlights how sanctions risk is embedded deeper into financial markets than is often assumed. Based on current platform coverage, approximately six in ten sanctions-linked instruments remain active, underlining that sanctions exposure is an ongoing operational challenge for trading, investment, and post-trade functions.
At the instrument level, sanctions impact is concentrated in the mechanisms of capital formation and corporate restructuring, with significant representation across entitlements and rights, debt instruments, and structured products. This distribution reflects the way sanctions increasingly affect trading activity as well as corporate actions and financing structures.
From a jurisdictional perspective, Russian-imposed measures continue to dominate the sanctions-instrument landscape, while regimes administered by the European Union, United States, New Zealand and Ukraine are also materially contributing to the volume of affected instruments, illustrating the growing importance of multi-jurisdictional sanctions management.
The Sanctioned Securities Data File is designed to integrate into firms’ existing compliance, risk and trading workflows via a centralised, structured data feed. It supports screening across a broad range of asset classes and provides frequent updates aligned to evolving global sanctions designations.
