ACAMS: Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist

RISKS AND METHODS OF MONEY LAUNDERING
AND TERRORISM FINANCING 26%
1.1 Identify the risks to individuals for violations of
AML laws.

1.2 Identify the risks to institutions for violations of
AML laws.

1.3 Identify economic and social consequences of
money laundering.

1.4 Identify the purpose of sanctions being imposed
(e.g., OFAC, UN, EU).

1.5 Identify methods to finance terrorism.

1.6 Identify methods to launder money used in
banks and other deposit taking institutions.

1.7 Identify methods to launder money used in
insurance companies.

1.8 Identify methods to launder money using brokerdealers, investment advisors, and the capital
markets (e.g., securities, futures).

1.9 Identify methods to launder money used in
gaming (e.g., casinos).

1.10. Identify methods to launder money used in
dealers of precious metal or high-value items.

1.11 Identify methods to launder money used in real
estate.

1.12 Identify methods to launder money used
in bureaux de change and money services
businesses.

1.13 Identify methods to launder money used by
lawyers, notaries, accountants, and auditors.

1.14 Given a scenario about trust and company
service providers, identify the red flags that
indicate laundering or financing terrorism.

1.15 Given a scenario about emerging risks
associated with technology as an enabler of
money laundering or financing terrorism, identify
the red flags.

1.16 Given a scenario about banks and other deposit
taking institutions, identify the red flags that
indicate money laundering or financing terrorism.

1.17 Given a scenario about insurance companies,
identify the red flags that indicate money
laundering or financing terrorism.

1.18 Given a scenario about broker-dealers,
investment advisors, and the capital markets
(e.g., securities, futures), identify the red flags
that indicate money laundering or financing
terrorism.

1.19 Given a scenario about gaming (e.g., casinos),
identify the red flags that indicate money
laundering or financing terrorism.

1.20. Given a scenario about dealers of precious
metal dealers and high-value items, identify
the red flags that indicate money laundering or
financing terrorism.

1.21 Given a scenario about dealers of real estate,
identify the red flags that indicate money
laundering or financing terrorism.

1.22 Given a scenario about bureaux de change and
money services businesses, identify the red flags
that indicate money laundering or financing
terrorism.

1.23 Given a scenario about lawyers, notaries,
accountants, and auditors, identify the red flags
that indicate money laundering or financing
terrorism.

1.24 Given a scenario, identify the red flags that
indicate human trafficking.

1.25 Given a scenario about financial transactions
that offer anonymity, identify the red flags
that indicate money laundering or financing
terrorism.

1.26 Given a scenario about lack of transparency of
ownership (e.g., shell companies, trusts), identify
the red flags that indicate money laundering or
financing terrorism.

1.27 Given a scenario about moving money, identify
the red flags that indicate money laundering or
financing terrorism could be occurring.

1.28 Given a scenario involving commercial
transactions, identify the red flags that indicate
how trade-based money laundering could be
occurring

COMPLIANCE STANDARDS FOR ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING (AML) AND COMBATING THE FINANCING OF TERRORISM (CFT) 25%
2.1 Identify the key aspects of the FATF 40
Recommendations.

2.2 Identify the process that FATF uses to raise
awareness of certain jurisdictions with lax AML
controls.

2.3 Identify key aspects of BASEL Committee
Customer Due Diligence Principles.

2.4 Identify key aspects of the Wolfsberg Group’s
AML Principles as they relate to private banking.

2.5 Identify key aspects of the Wolfsberg Group’s
AML Principles as they relate to correspondent
banking.

2.6 Identify the key aspects of the EU Directives on
money laundering.

2.7 Identify key aspects of the USA PATRIOT Act that
have extraterritorial reach.

2.8 Identify key aspects of OFAC sanctions that have
extraterritorial reach.

2.9 Given a scenario involving a non-US financial
institution, identify the extraterritorial impact of
the USA PATRIOT Act.

2.10. Identify the key roles of regional FATF-style
bodies.

2.11 Identify the key objectives of the Egmont Group.

AML, CFT AND SANCTIONS COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS 28%
3.1 Identify the components of an institution-wide
risk assessment.

3.2 Given a scenario with unmitigated risks, identify
the appropriate course of action that should be
taken.

3.3 Given a scenario of institution-wide controls,
record-keeping requirements and other
mitigating factors, identify how these
components should be applied.

3.4 Given a scenario, identify the key aspects
of delivering targeted training for different
audiences and job functions.

3.5 Given a scenario, identify key components of an
AML training program.

3.6 Identify the roles senior management and the
board of directors play in how an institution
addresses AML oversight.

3.7 Given a scenario, identify the roles senior
management and board of directors play in how
the institution addresses AML governance.

3.8 Given a scenario, identify how customer
onboarding should be implemented for the
institution.

3.9 Given a scenario, identify areas to increase the
efficiency and accuracy of automated AML
tools.

3.10. Given a scenario, identify customers and
potential employees that would warrant
enhanced due diligence.

3.11 Given a scenario, identify the steps that should
be followed to trace funds through a financial
institution.

3.12 Given a scenario including general client
behavior, identify the suspicious behavior.

3.13 Given a scenario including some suspicious
client behavior, identify how the institution should
respond to these behaviors.

3.14 Given a scenario, identify the red flags and
pressures (internal and external) with obscuring
wire transfer information (e.g., beneficiary,
originator).

3.15 Given a scenario, identify red flags associated
with transactions or use of accounts (e.g., cash
transactions, non-cash deposits, wire transfers,
credit transactions, trade financing, investment
activity).

3.16 Given a scenario including red flags associated
with transactions or account activity, identify
how the institution should respond to the red
flags.

3.17 Given a scenario including red flags associated
with employee activity, identify how the
institution should respond to the suspicious
activity.

3.18 Given a scenario, identify situations in which the SAR/STR should be filed.

3.19 Given a scenario, identify how the SAR/
STR information in the documents should be
protected.

3.20. Given a scenario, identify how to respond to law enforcement/governmental requests.

3.21 Given a scenario about an institution operating
with multiple lines of business and/or in multiple
jurisdictions, identify the important aspects of
implementing an enterprise-wide approach to
managing money laundering risk.

3.22 Given a scenario, identify appropriate steps to
take to comply with sanctions requirements.

3.23 Identify sources for maintaining up-to-date
sanctions lists.

3.24 Given a scenario about a relationship with a PEP, identify the appropriate steps to mitigate the risk.

3.25 Given a scenario, identify internal and external
factors that can cause a reassessment of the
current AML program.

3.26 Given a scenario, identify when and how to
implement necessary program changes (e.g.,
policy/procedure change, enhanced training).

3.27 Given a scenario, identify the process to assess
the money laundering and sanctions risk
associated with new products and services.

3.28 Given a scenario, identify internal or
external factors that should be escalated to
management and/or the board of directors.

3.29 Given a scenario, identify how to respond to AML audit findings and/or regulator findings.

3.30 Given a scenario, identify the importance of
ensuring the independence of an audit of the
AML program.

3.31 Given a scenario, identify an appropriate riskbased approach to AML audits.

CONDUCTING AND SUPPORTING THE INVESTIGATION PROCESS 21%
4.1 Given a scenario about a high profile SAR/STR,
identify how to report it to management/board of directors.

4.2 Given a scenario, identify the appropriate
manner to report a SAR/STR to authorities.

4.3 Identify how to maintain and secure all
supporting documentation used to identify
suspicious activity.

4.4 Given a scenario, identify factors that indicate
an institution should exit a relationship due to
excessive money laundering risk.

4.5 Given a scenario, identify factors that should be
considered to keep an account open based on a
law enforcement agency request.

4.6 Given a scenario with an institution conducting
an investigation of a customer, identify the areas
and/or records it should examine.

4.7 Given a scenario with a regulatory or
law enforcement agency conducting an
investigation of an institution’s customer, identify
the additional steps the institution should take.

4.8 Given a scenario with an institution being
investigated by a regulatory or law enforcement
agency, identify actions the institution should
take.

4.9 Identify the factors that must be considered
before institutions share customer-related
information across and within the same
jurisdiction.

4.10. Given a scenario involving a senior level
employee engaged in potentially suspicious
behavior, identify how address a potential AML
situation (e.g., board member, CEO).

4.11 Identify appropriate techniques that can be used for interviewing potential parties involved in an AML event.

4.12 Given a scenario, identify the available public
source data and other sources that can be used
in an investigation.

4.13 Identify the methods that law enforcement
agencies may use to request information from
an institution.

4.14 Identify the types of information law
enforcement agencies typically ask for from
institutions during investigations.

4.15 Identify how authorities (e.g., FIUs, central banks, governments, regulatory bodies) can cooperate and provide assistance when conducting crossborder money laundering investigations.

4.16 Identify what a government FIU does and how it interacts with the public and private sectors.

4.17 Identify the role of strict safeguards on privacy
and data protection in AML investigations.