Data Sources

This list can be used as the broadest available OpenSanctions dataset. It includes any entity that should receive enhanced public scrutiny - either because they appear on a sanctions list, in a criminal context or as a political office holder. Be advised that the data in this collection originates from a variety of sources and therefore varies in terms of detail and precision. For example, many listings of political office holders do not include their exact birth dates or full given names.

This collection contains data about politically exposed persons (PEPs) from multiple sources. We include lists of office-holders both directly from official sources like governments and also from third-party sources that have been aggregated by other organizations. **IMPORTANT: We discourage the use of this collection on its own, as it does not include some relevant information from enrichment sources. [Read the FAQ item](https://www.opensanctions.org/faq/165/peps-only/).**

These data sources are only partially imported where a link to an existing entity of interest can be found.

This dataset is based on querying Wikipedia category pages for entities of interest. Using [PETScan](https://petscan.wmcloud.org/), this dataset is generated by querying specific categories on Wikidata and extracting the entities that are part of them and describe persons. This is used to fetch profiles of politically exposed persons and other entities of interest.

Procurement exclusion (debarment) of companies involved in irregularities in state contracts.

The tax database of legal entities is probably the most detailed part of the companies registry (other fragments are maintained by the statistics body and others). The registry data must be purchased from the tax authority, but a full version of it has been released online by a Russian IT entrepreneur. This dataset contains entities up to the latest snapshot available to OpenSanctions. Additionally, it is augmented with historic ownership and directorship data, sourced from snapshots of the source database dating back to 2022-01-01. This is to compensate any information loss due to intra-war data removals, as the Government of the Russian Federation has [limited reporting duties for legal entities that are subject to foreign restrictive measures](http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202203180028?index=1).

This dataset includes the profiles of politically exposed persons from Wikidata into OpenSanctions. It does so by monitoring the Wikidata items describing a broad range of political positions (e.g.: [member of the German Bundestag](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1939555), or [German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q568605)) and tracking the individuals who hold this post at different times. The set of posts and positions that are tracked are curated by the OpenSanctions team prioritises: * National legislatures * National cabinets and ministerial positions * Some senior administrative positions * Diplomatic and military leadership * Supreme court judges * Central bank governors Going forward, we will also include sub-national positions, include state legislatures in federally organized countries, as well as state-level senior executives. Politically exposed persons are included after they retire from public office for a period determined by [a number of rules](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/pep/methodology) to handle missing data and different levels of influence of positions.

This collection combines entities which have been involved in some form of criminal proceeding. The focus lies on corporate and financial fraud, and political crimes. These actions can be considered adjacent to economic and military sanctions and be included in the same vetting process. In the future, we hope to expand into several deep dives on specific subject areas: * Procurement exclusion (debarment) of companies involved in irregularities in state contracts. * Individuals or companies banned from operating as corporate officers in one or more jurisdictions. * Companies involved in corruption in their own country or abroad (FCPA). * Companies known the be used to facilitate money laundering (laundromats). * Individuals or companies that have declared bankruptcy or insolvency in some sensational way.

This collection produces a [specialised export of all sanctioned organizations](/docs/data/securities/), with a column to designate their LEI codes, where available. We also include a column that lists all known ISINs associated with each company. The table also lists all Russian companies that have been assigned an ISIN, and thus are subject to investment bans under US Executive Order (EO) 14071. See also: * [Securities data in OpenSanctions](/docs/data/securities/) * [Russian NSD dataset](https://www.opensanctions.org/datasets/ru_nsd_isin/)

The annotations dataset consists of detail added by the OpenSanctions team to improve on the data from our other sources with detail from our knowledge and desktop research. This includes e.g. that a position like "Advisor to the president of Russia" is a PEP with national government level of influence, while "President of the water polo club" might also be a position included in an investigative database, but should not be considered a PEP in our dataset.

This collection includes datasets that track individuals and entities that are subject to regulatory actions and restrictions, such as investor warnings, penalities and fines, or bans from specific activities or industries. These watchlists are maintained by government agencies, international organizations, or other regulatory bodies.

Wikidata serves as the source of much of the OpenSanctions data related to politically exposed persons (PEPs). We also link up entities that are sanctioned whenever a relevant Wikidata item is available. The Wikidata importer will also traverse family and personal relationships that are documented in the database and import relatives and close associates whereever these are stated. ### Limitations There is no attempt to link companies and organizations from sanctions lists to Wikidata, as the way that an encyclopedia describes such legal entities is not granular enough for due diligence use cases. We also remove any person born before 1900, or who has died before 2000 from the dataset in order to avoid outdated profiles that could lead to false positives.

Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) are global company identification numbers. They are meant to be used in international transactions in the future, backed by an ISO-developed standard. The GLEIF group assembles a database of all entities which have been issued an LEI and is published as open data on the web. ### Using the full data In order to match GLEIF data with OpenSanctions, we've converted the full GLEIF database to the FollowTheMoney data format used by our system. You can download the [raw data and use it in full](https://github.com/opensanctions/gleif) (updated daily).

This collection combines all designated entities from the various sanctions lists included in OpenSanctions. It represents the broadest set of sanctioned people, companies and other assets that is designated globally. Virtually all sanctions lists are based on the [UN Security Council List](/datasets/un_sc_sanctions/), and add further listings based on national policies. The sanctions included here generally impose one or more restrictions like * freezing of assets * banning financial transactions, except sometimes for personal living expenses * travel bans They may be imposed as a consequence of activities such as funding or association with organisations involved in terrorism or human rights abuses, or for other geopolitical reasons. This excludes restrictions sometimes termed as sanctions such as those imposed by financial regulators for financial misconduct, or debarments restricting procurement. Those are included in the [Crime collection](/datasets/crime) instead.

This collection contains maritime-related sanctions data, featuring vessels, and organizations linked to them. The dataset includes all watchlists that are relevant to maritime operations, ie. that indicate vessels as sanctioned entities. The CSV data structure is as follows: - **type**: Either VESSEL, or ORGANIZATION. Organizations are only included, if one of our data sources provides an IMO number assigned to that company or entity. All vessels are included in the data export, irrespective of whether an IMO number is available or not. - **caption**: The name of the vessel or organization. See [caption](/faq/24/captions/) on how a name is picked from available candidates. - **imo**: The IMO number of the vessel or organization. This is a unique identifier for vessels and organizations. IMO numbers are assigned by the International Maritime Organization, and different schemes are used for vessels and organizations. If no IMO number is available for a vessel, the field is empty. In those cases, more brittle matching on name may be required. - **risk**: Whether the vessel or organization is directly sanctioned, or is mentioned on a watchlist in a secondary capacity. See [topics](/docs/topics/). - **countries**: All countries that the vessel or organization has been linked to. - **flag**: The flag of the vessel. This is the country that the vessel is registered in. - **mmsi**: The MMSI number of the vessel. This is a unique identifier for vessels, and is assigned by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is used for maritime communication and navigation. If no MMSI number is available for a vessel, the field is empty. - **id**: The OpenSanctions ID for the vessel or organization. - **url**: Link to the OpenSanctions profile regarding the vessel or organization. - **datasets**: The list of datasets that mention the vessel or organization. This is a list of OpenSanctions dataset IDs, and can be used to find out where the data comes from. - **aliases**: A list of all names that are linked to the vessel or organization, except for the name that is used in the `name` field.

> This data package is refreshed daily and contains the publicly available data for > all active exclusion records entered by the Federal government identifying those > parties excluded from receiving Federal contracts, certain subcontracts, and certain > types of Federal financial and non-financial assistance and benefits. This version > of the file has the Unique Entity Identifier fields added. Users must read the > exclusion record completely to understand how it impacts the excluded party. The > links include the three-digit Julian date for easier identification of the most > recent file.

This registry is presented in an open format and sourced from various sectors/entities of the Public Administration. Key sources include the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), the Federal Chamber (Câmara Federal), the Federal Senate (Senado Federal), the Ministry of Economy, the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU), and other relevant entities. It lists public agents who currently hold or have held significant public offices, jobs, or functions within the last five years.

This is a dataset of financial instruments and their reference data, as published by ESMA. The data establishes connections between financial instruments and their issuers, and includes information such as the instrument's name, ISIN, and LEI.

This is a dataset of financial instruments and their reference data, as published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. The data establishes connections between financial instruments and their issuers, and includes information such as the instrument's name, ISIN, and LEI.

This collection contains datasets that provide contextual details and more in-depth analysis of entities that are of special interest to the public.

This dataset contains information on individuals currently serving as mayors or councillors in Spanish municipalities. It includes their names, roles, political affiliations, and relevant administrative details. The dataset reflects current officeholders and includes historical data from the 2019–2023 municipal term.

This dataset represents the current [List of Excluded Individuals/Entities](https://oig.hhs.gov/exclusions/exclusions_list.asp) (LEIE) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). From the OIG's website: > The OIG has the authority to exclude individuals and entities from Federally > funded health care programs for a variety of reasons, including a conviction > for Medicare or Medicaid fraud. Those that are excluded can receive no payment > from Federal health care programs for any items or services they furnish, > order, or prescribe. This includes those that provide health benefits funded > directly or indirectly by the United States (other than the Federal Employees > Health Benefits Plan). For more information about exclusion reason references, refer to the [OIG's Exclusions FAQ page](https://oig.hhs.gov/faqs/exclusions-faq).

The Law on Harmonization of Public and Private Interests Article 2, Paragraph 5 and Article 4, Paragraph 3 require persons in positions that can influence the decisions of state institutions to declare their private interests. The [list of roles required to submit declarations](https://vtek.lt/privaciu-interesu-deklaravimas/kas-turi-deklaruoti/) includes state politicians, party leadership, public servants, judges, and senior leadership or public administrative bodies.

This dataset lists elected mayors of French cities, towns, and boroughs (arrondissements). The data is collected from the open data platform of the French government. The dataset itself is compiled by the French Ministry of the Interior and Overseas using information from regional prefectures, and is updated quarterly.

The EveryPolitician project ran until 2019 and created a mechanism for consolidating data about members of parliament for 233 different countries and territories. As part of the project, EveryPolitician operated a large fleet of crawlers which read the web sites of parliaments around the world. OpenSanctions only includes persons from this dataset which meet our standard criteria of PEP classification: national legislature members are included for 20 years after they held a position if an end date is known, otherwise for 40 years after they entered the position. They are excluded 5 years after their death, or 120 years after their birth.