Refinitiv Dispute Lawyer — Challenge World-Check One Data

Refinitiv World-Check and the LSEG Screening Infrastructure

Refinitiv, now part of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), operates World-Check One — one of the most widely used financial crime screening databases in the world. Financial institutions, law firms, and regulated businesses in over 170 countries use World-Check data as part of their AML, KYC, and enhanced due diligence processes. When World-Check contains wrong data about you, the consequences reach every institution that subscribes to the platform.

A formal dispute with Refinitiv is a legal process — not a customer service interaction. Refinitiv maintains legal and compliance teams that handle data challenge requests. The way the challenge is framed, documented, and escalated determines whether you receive a substantive response or a form letter.

Grounds for a Refinitiv Dispute

• Factual inaccuracy: The entry contains false information — wrong identity, incorrect risk category, or data that has been publicly corrected at source.
• Outdated information: The entry reflects a matter that has been resolved, a status that has changed, or a conviction that has been spent or overturned.
• GDPR right to erasure: You are an EU or UK resident and Refinitiv cannot demonstrate a current, proportionate legal basis for retaining your data.
• Wrong risk category: You are listed under financial crime, sanctions, or terrorism categories without meeting the criteria for those categories.

How We Conduct the Dispute

1. Data access: Subject Access Request to Refinitiv for all data held, sources used, and legal basis for processing.
2. Legal grounds analysis: Identifying the strongest legal basis for correction or removal in your jurisdiction.
3. Formal dispute submission: A structured legal demand — not a SAR form — requiring specific action within defined timescales.
4. Escalation if unresolved: Regulatory complaint (ICO, relevant EU DPA) or civil proceedings under GDPR Article 82.

Why a Legal Demand Produces Different Results Than a Standard Request

Refinitiv receives thousands of data challenge requests. Standard requests submitted through the public-facing form are processed by an administrative team operating against a volume workflow. Legal demands — structured as formal notices under GDPR Article 17, Article 21, or applicable data protection law, with stated legal consequences for non-compliance — are escalated to Refinitiv legal and compliance. The response quality and speed differ materially between the two processes.

In our experience, a well-constructed legal demand to Refinitiv produces a substantive response within 4 to 6 weeks. A standard customer request may receive an initial acknowledgement and then silence. Where Refinitiv fails to respond within the legal timeframe, we pursue the matter through the relevant data protection authority — the ICO in the UK, the relevant EU supervisory authority, or the appropriate regulator in your jurisdiction.

The World-Check Entry Format

World-Check entries contain a risk category (financial crime, sanctions, terrorism, adverse media, or PEP), a profile summary, source citations, and associated entity links. Understanding the specific entry — its category, sources, and associated entities — is essential to constructing an effective challenge. We obtain the complete entry via Subject Access Request before framing the dispute, ensuring the challenge addresses the specific grounds Refinitiv used to create and maintain the record.

The source citations in a World-Check entry — the media articles, government publications, or other sources Refinitiv relies on — are often the key to the challenge. Where the source has been corrected, updated, or the matter resolved, Refinitiv’s continued reliance on outdated source material is challengeable under both accuracy and proportionality grounds.

Related Services

See World-Check false positive disputes and World-Check removal for related services. Where LexisNexis is also implicated, see LexisNexis dispute lawyer. If a bank account has been closed as a result, we address both in parallel.

Frequently Asked Questions