Module 6 — Checklists and Templates (Audit-Ready)

Goal of this module

After this module, you should be able to:

• Use standardized checklists to reduce mistakes and speed up sanctions handling.
• Create an audit-ready evidence pack that enables fast decisioning by Compliance.
• Document sanctions alerts in a consistent way that stands up to internal/external audit.
• Apply ready-to-copy templates for: escalation, case notes, customer comms, and decision records.

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How to use these materials

• Use the checklists as operational “runbooks.”
• Copy templates into your ticket/case tool.
• If an item is not available, write “Not available” (never leave it ambiguous).
• Always follow your internal policy for what can be disclosed to customers.

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1) The audit-ready standard (what auditors look for)

Auditors generally expect you to prove:

• What happened (alert trigger, parties, transaction, geography).
• What you did (holds/blocks, who was notified).
• Who decided (authority, approvals).
• Why (rationale tied to policy/regulation).
• Whether it worked (prevented prohibited activity).
• What improved after (tuning, training, remediation).

Minimum rule: If it isn’t documented in the system of record, it didn’t happen.

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2) Global checklist: Stop → Escalate → Document (SED)

A. STOP checklist (contain risk immediately)

Use when you have a sanctions signal (screening alert, geo restriction, evasion pattern).

• Apply the correct operational action (per procedure): hold/pause onboarding, payout, refund, transfer, shipment, or account action
• Prevent retries/workarounds (disable repeated attempts if possible)
• Preserve evidence (screenshots/log references, document versions)
• Record timestamp of the stop action
• Create/attach a case ID (or ticket reference)