Compliance as Part of the Process Rather Than an Additional Requirement

With the dbh SAP add-on for sanctions list screening, compliance is seamlessly integrated into existing SAP processes—from business partners and banks to contact persons, operational documents, and ongoing transactions.

Compliance requirements continue to increase

International supply chains are becoming more complex, geopolitical tensions regularly lead to new sanctions, and companies must continuously review their business relationships against current sanctions lists. This obligation has long since extended beyond traditional export transactions.

Customers, suppliers, service providers, financial institutions, and other stakeholders must also be documented and verified in a traceable manner. At the same time, companies expect automated processes that do not slow down their day-to-day operations.

This is precisely where it becomes clear that compliance must not be a standalone, additional process. It must become an integral part of the digital value chain and be directly embedded in the relevant SAP processes.

Business Partner Verification Directly in SAP Business Partner

In modern SAP environments, the SAP Business Partner serves as the central foundation for numerous business processes. Customers, suppliers, service providers, contacts, and banks are managed centrally here and utilized in purchasing, sales, logistics, and finance. The dbh SLP add-on extends this master data process to include an integrated sanctions list check. Business partners are automatically checked against current sanctions lists—both when new records are created and when existing master data is modified.

The validation is event-driven: Whenever a business partner is created, saved, or modified, SAP Event Mesh triggers a corresponding event. The dbh solution processes this event, retrieves the relevant data via standard SAP APIs, and performs the validation. The result is immediately returned to the business process.

When matches are found, predefined SAP locks can be set automatically. For example, lock reasons can be defined at the business partner, customer, vendor, or sales area level. In addition, the responsible employees can be automatically notified by email so they can assess critical cases promptly.

By fully documenting all review steps, decisions, and approvals, an audit-proof compliance process is created that offers a high degree of transparency and traceability.

Don't forget the banks and your contacts

In many companies, sanctions list screening focuses on customers and suppliers. However, risks can also arise from banks, payees, contacts, or other individuals involved in business processes.

Individual address verification is therefore particularly important. This process involves checking not only organizations but also individuals against current sanctions lists. This can be crucial for identifying compliance violations early on, especially when it comes to contacts, authorized representatives, recipients of payments, or points of contact in international business relationships.

Integration with SAP Business Partner enables different partner roles and address sources to be verified centrally and consistently. This provides companies with an end-to-end compliance process for both organizations and individuals.

The result is greater transparency, a consistent database, and standardized documentation of all testing and approval processes.

When Compliance Halts the Order

Compliance risks do not arise solely when onboarding a business partner. Critical situations can also arise during ongoing business processes, such as when a business partner is subsequently added to a sanctions list or when new regulatory requirements take effect.

That is why the verification of document data is becoming increasingly important. Whether it’s a sales order, delivery, purchase order, or other business documents, the integrated sanctions list check automatically monitors operational SAP processes and identifies critical issues early on.

In this process, relevant document data is transferred to the verification component and validated against current sanctions lists. If matches are found, defined follow-up processes can be triggered—ranging from warnings and notifications to the automatic blocking of sales or purchasing processes. For example, sales documents can be blocked, or purchase orders can be held until a final compliance assessment has been completed. This prevents shipments from being processed or follow-up processes from being initiated before a legally compliant assessment has been performed.

Transparency Through Monitoring and Documentation

Compliance does not end with the actual audit. The dbh SLP Add-on provides a central monitoring tool for this purpose, clearly displaying open hits, blocks, approvals, and manual decisions.

Compliance officers gain a transparent overview of ongoing audit cases and can take targeted action. All activities are documented in an audit-proof manner and are available for audits and internal control processes.

This creates a robust chain of evidence that meets both regulatory requirements and internal governance standards.

Keep the Core Clean with SAP BTP

As with dbh’s other SAP solutions, the sanctions list check also focuses on a future-proof architectural approach.

By using SAP Event Mesh, standard APIs, and a side-by-side extension on the SAP Business Technology Platform, integration can be achieved without making significant changes to the SAP core. Extensions remain upgradeable, maintainable, and scalable.

This enables companies to implement innovations while consistently adhering to the „Keep the Core Clean“ principle.

Compliance as an Integral Part of Value Creation

The requirements for sanctions list checks will continue to increase. Companies therefore need solutions that comply with legal requirements while seamlessly integrating into existing business processes.

By embedding compliance checks directly within the business partner module, master data, and operational documents, a regulatory requirement is transformed into an automated business process. Business partners, banks, individuals, orders, shipments, and purchase orders are integrated into a comprehensive compliance strategy.

The result: less manual work, greater transparency, faster response times, and greater security in international business. At the same time, companies lay the foundation for a future-proof compliance architecture that combines regulatory requirements with efficient business processes.