What good sanctions alert notes look like
Disposition text that helps the next analyst — and the next auditor — understand why a match was cleared.
Clearing a sanctions match with “no hit” tells the next reader nothing. During sanctions controls reviews, we score disposition notes as much as list coverage.
Minimum content
- Which field matched (name, alias, date of birth, address fragment)
- Which customer attributes were compared
- Why the match fails (different middle name verified against passport; DOB conflict; known false-positive pattern already approved)
- Who approved if policy requires dual review
Timing still matters
A perfect note written eighteen days after the alert fired still fails a timeliness test. Capture clock starts and stops from the system, not from memory.
Training angle
Show analysts three anonymised notes from your own queue — one thin, one adequate, one strong — in the same workshop. Borrowed textbook examples rarely match your product names or customer types.