Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) are powerful individuals such as elected representatives, high ranking members of government departments, or people who have other sources of influence. Such individuals may have the ability to garner funds through illegal means such as corruption, bribery etc making them higher risk than usual customers.

Adverse or negative media refers to information in digital sources that depict particular customers or business entities in a negative light. This is an indication that dealing with such individuals or entities may be a risky proposition.

PEP clients should be treated as high risk clients and norms of enhanced due diligence and frequent due diligence should be enforced on PEP clients.

Negative media exposure increases the possibility that a particular customer may be engaged in wrongdoing and FATF advises that organisations use “verifiable adverse media searches” to inform the customer risk assessment.