Negative News Research for BSA/AML | FI Learning Group

LIVE WEBINAR

Negative News Research for BSA/AML:
Search Methods and Escalation Decisions

Thursday, October 8, 2026 | 1:00–2:00 PM ET

Negative news research is only useful when the search process is consistent, the results are evaluated in context, and employees know when additional review or escalation is warranted.

Finding negative news is easy. Knowing what to do with it is harder.

Financial institutions rely on negative news research as one component of customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, investigations, OFAC review, and ongoing risk management. Yet inconsistent search methods can create uneven results, missed information, unnecessary escalations, and weak documentation.

This practical session examines how financial institution professionals can approach negative news research more consistently — from building effective searches and evaluating sources to determining relevance, documenting findings, and making escalation decisions.

The discussion connects day-to-day research practices with broader BSA/AML and OFAC responsibilities so teams can make more consistent, defensible decisions and better prepare for internal review and regulatory examination.

Common challenges

✓Searches that are too narrow, inconsistent, or difficult to reproduce.

✓Unclear standards for distinguishing relevant risk information from noise.

✓Inconsistent escalation decisions across analysts, teams, and customer types.

✓Documentation that does not clearly explain what was reviewed or why a decision was made.

What You'll Learn

Practical techniques for performing negative news research, evaluating findings, and making consistent escalation decisions.

Search Strategy

Build repeatable searches using customer names, aliases, locations, ownership information, business activities, risk terms, and other relevant identifiers.

Source Evaluation

Assess source quality, recency, credibility, duplication, and context before treating a result as meaningful risk information.

Risk Relevance

Distinguish information that may affect customer risk, due diligence, monitoring, investigations, sanctions review, or reporting decisions from information that is less relevant.

Escalation Decisions

Develop clearer standards for when findings should trigger enhanced review, management involvement, additional due diligence, investigation, or other action.

Documentation

Document search terms, sources, findings, analysis, decisions, and follow-up so another reviewer can understand what was done and why.

Governance & Examination Readiness

Connect negative news practices to risk assessment, customer due diligence, monitoring, investigations, reporting, governance, testing, and program oversight.

From search results to defensible decisions.

A strong negative news process should help employees answer three questions consistently: What did we find? Does it matter? What should happen next?

Search

Use structured methods and appropriate search terms to improve consistency and reduce the chance of missing meaningful information.

Evaluate

Consider source reliability, customer identity, recency, severity, corroboration, and connection to the institution's risk concerns.

Escalate & Document

Apply defined thresholds, capture the rationale for the decision, and route significant findings for the appropriate level of review.

Who Should Attend?

Designed for financial institution professionals who perform, review, rely on, or oversee negative news research and BSA/AML due diligence.

BSA/AML Officers & Teams

Customer Due Diligence

Enhanced Due Diligence

Investigations & SAR Teams

OFAC & Sanctions

Compliance

Risk Management

Internal Audit & Testing

Make negative news research more consistent and defensible.

Join FI Learning Group for practical guidance on search methods, source evaluation, documentation, risk relevance, and escalation decisions.