UK Due Diligence Checklist 2026

A Step-by-Step Guide: 
  • Identify and manage third-party bribery and corruption risk
  • Support compliance with UK legislations, including AML requirements
  • Strengthen decision-making and reduce reputational, regulatory, and financial risk 
Download the free checklist

Download the checklist and optimise your due diligence process

Conducting effective due diligence is increasingly complex.  Organisations must assess risk across multiple dimensions, legal, financial, operational, and reputational, while ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.  

This due diligence checklist provides a structured framework to help teams carry out consistent, defensible, and proportionate due diligence across third parties, suppliers, and potential acquisition targets.


What’s included in the 2026 Due Diligence Checklist

By downloading the checklist, you’ll gain guidance across financial crime, ESG, AI governance and global regulatory risk:

Sanctions, PEP & Watchlist Screening

Guidance on screening third parties against: 

  • Global sanctions lists (UK, EU, US, UN and more)
  • Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs)
  • Regulatory and law enforcement watchlists
  • Compliance-related enforcement databases 

AI Vendor & Technology Due Diligence

A dedicated AI due diligence framework covering: 

  • Data provenance and permissions
  • Transparency and explainability
  • Hallucinations and algorithmic bias
  • “AI-washing” risk
  • Emerging regulations including the EU AI Act and global AI governance models  

Global Regulatory Landscape

An overview of major regulatory developments across: 

  • UK (Economic Crime Act, failure to prevent fraud)
  • EU (CSDDD, AMLR, AI Act, CSRD)
  • DACH, Benelux and Nordics
  • Latin America (Clean Company Act, AML enforcement)
  • Asia (AI governance, environmental due diligence) 
  • Middle East (AML, corruption enforcement, PEP risk) 

Real-World Enforcement Examples

Recent enforcement actions across: 

  • AML failures
  • ESG transparency breaches
  • Data governance and AI misuse
  • Cross-border bribery investigations 

Understand how regulatory breaches translate into financial, reputational and strategic damage. 

ESG & Human Rights Due Diligence

How to assess: 

  • Modern slavery and forced labour risk
  • Environmental impact and climate exposure
  • Biodiversity and deforestation risk
  • Governance and ethical conduct
  • Supply chain traceability expectations 

Related terms

Due Diligence

The process of investigating and evaluating a person, company or transaction before entering into a business agreement 

Learn more

Anti Money Laundering Checks (AML)

A legally required identity verification process used to assess whether an individual is involved in money laundering, or other illicit financial activities.

Learn more

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)

An advanced KYC process used to assess higher-risk customers by providing a deeper understanding of their background, transactions, and potential exposure to money laundering or terrorist financing.  

Learn more

Frequently asked questions

A due diligence checklist is a structured guideline that outlines the information, documents and checks required to assess a company or third party. In the UK, due diligence is commonly required when onboarding suppliers, forming partnerships, conducting mergers and acquisitions, or meeting AML and compliance obligations.

The purpose is to identify potential risks and opportunities before a business decision is made, including financial, legal, compliance, and reputational risks. 

The 2026 edition expands beyond traditional anti-bribery checks to include:

  • ESG and human rights due diligence expectations
  • AI governance and vendor risk assessment
  • Sanctions fragmentation monitoring
  • Global regulatory comparisons
  • Ongoing monitoring and automation guidance

It reflects the growing integration of financial crime, ESG and AI compliance into a single due diligence framework.

Three major shifts are transforming third-party risk:

1. Expansion of ESG obligations

Mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence laws are expanding globally, with extra-territorial application.

2. Rapid AI regulation

Organisations must now perform due diligence not only on partners, but on AI vendors, datasets and technology providers.

3. Cross-border enforcement cooperation

Regulators increasingly share intelligence and coordinate investigations across jurisdictions, increasing exposure for multinational firms.

The result? Due diligence must be integrated, risk-based and continuously monitored, not treated as a tick-box exercise.

Yes. It includes guidance on when enhanced due diligence is required, including:

  • High-risk jurisdictions
  • Regulated or corruption-exposed sectors
  • Politically exposed persons (PEPs)
  • Complex ownership structures
  • Adverse media exposure

It also outlines when to consider outsourced or specialist investigations.

Increasingly, yes.

Many jurisdictions require companies to assess:

  • The safety and transparency of AI tools
  • Data provenance and permissions
  • Third-party technology provider risk
  • Responsible AI governance practices

The checklist includes a dedicated AI vendor due diligence section.

Organisations face increasing regulatory scrutiny, including stricter AML requirements, anti-corruption legislation, ESG expectations, and emerging regulations related to data and artificial intelligence.

A well-structured due diligence checklist helps organisations:

  • Identify and mitigate compliance risks early
  • Avoid regulatory breaches and financial penalties
  • Prevent reputational damage
  • Support informed contract negotiations
  • Make defensible, well-documented decisions 

This checklist is designed to support due diligence activities aligned with:

  • AML regulations
  • Anti-bribery and corruption requirements
  • Financial crime prevention frameworks
  • Third-party risk management best practices

It can be applied across industries and use cases, including supplier onboarding, partnerships, and transactional due diligence. 

Download a free copy of the 2026 due diligence checklist

Get instant access to a free comprehensive, ready-to-use checklist designed to help compliance professionals manage:

  • AML and financial crime risk
  • ESG and human rights obligations
  • AI governance and vendor risk
  • Cross-border regulatory exposure
  • Ongoing monitoring requirements

Build a defensible, integrated and future-ready due diligence framework.