{"schema":"merit.compliance/v1","what":"A KYT/sanctions pre-gate fused with the verify gate: before Merit settles USDC to a payee, the recipient is screened for sanctions / terrorist-financing / illicit-behavior risk. A DENIED payee is blocked, so a real disbursement is compliance-cleared AND work-verified. Wired into the custodial claim (on-chain payout).","provider":"circle (Compliance Engine — configured; the vendor has answered live screens)","honesty":"A `cleared:true` result is a real Circle Compliance Engine answer; note a live Circle account with no screening rules configured returns APPROVED for everything, so `cleared` means 'the vendor ran', not 'rules were enforced'. A local APPROVED means only 'no local rule matched' — NOT a sanctions clearance. Merit's operator denylist + structural checks are an authoritative HARD FLOOR (they DENY even over a vendor APPROVED); the documented testnet suffixes are a fallback-only demo vector and never override a live vendor. If the vendor is configured but unavailable, a screen degrades to REVIEW (or DENIED under MERIT_COMPLIANCE_STRICT=1) — never a silent approval.","endpoint":"POST { address } → a signed screening decision. Admin (X-Admin-Token): POST { action:'deny'|'allow', address } to manage the operator denylist.","stats":{"screens":75,"approved":66,"review":0,"denied":9,"viaCircle":66,"denylistSize":1}}