Risks + Methods
30%of exam
Frameworks + Regulations
20%of exam
AFC Compliance Program
30%of exam
Tools + Technologies
20%of exam
Quick Facts
- Exam
- CAMS
- Questions
- 120 MC/MS
- Time
- 3.5 hours
- Pass
- 75
- Provider
- Pearson VUE
- Eligibility
- 40 credits
- Membership
- ACAMS required
- Guessing
- No penalty
ML Path
Dirty cash gets placed, layered, integrated.
PlacementLayeringIntegration
AML vs CFT
AML
- Illicit source
- Clean appearance
- Profit protection
CFT
- Illicit destination
- Operational support
- May use clean funds
Source vs destination
Typology Picker
- Cash enters bank→Placement
- Complex wires→Layering
- Clean asset purchase→Integration
- Invoices mismatch→TBML
- Sub-threshold cash→Structuring
- Crypto transfer chain→VASP risk
ML Stages
- Placement
- Enter financial system
- Layering
- Obscure audit trail
- Integration
- Appear legitimate
- Structuring
- Evade reporting
- Commingling
- Blend dirty funds
- Smurfing
- Many small actors
Financial Crimes
- AML
- Stop laundering
- CFT
- Stop terror funding
- Sanctions
- Restrict targets
- Fraud
- Deception for gain
- ABC
- Bribery corruption controls
- Tax evasion
- Illegal tax avoidance
Typologies
- TBML
- Trade value abuse
- Mirror trading
- Offsetting securities trades
- Round tripping
- Circular funds
- Human trafficking
- Exploitation proceeds
- Cybercrime
- Digital illicit proceeds
- Environmental crime
- Resource crime proceeds
High-Risk Sectors
- MSB
- Money movement risk
- PSP
- Payment aggregation risk
- VASP
- Virtual asset risk
- Casino
- Cash intensive
- Real estate
- Large asset purchases
- Gatekeepers
- Professional enablers
Customer Risk
- PEP
- Corruption exposure
- HNW
- Complex wealth
- Shell company
- Opaque ownership
- Trust
- Legal arrangement
- Nominee
- Hidden controller
- Bearer share
- Anonymous ownership
SAR Flow
Investigate, document, report, never tip.
InvestigateDocumentReportNo tipping
CTR vs SAR
CTR
- Objective cash threshold
- Over $10k
- No suspicion needed
SAR
- Subjective suspicion
- Narrative required
- No tipping off
Threshold vs suspicion
Report Picker
- Cash over $10k→CTR
- Suspicion detected→SAR
- Foreign accounts→FBAR
- Cash crosses border→CMIR
- Trade cash receipt→Form 8300
- LE request→314(a)
FATF Core
- R.1
- Risk-based approach
- R.10
- Customer due diligence
- R.11
- Record keeping
- R.12
- PEP controls
- R.15
- New technologies
- R.20
- Suspicious reporting
Blocking vs Rejecting
Blocking
- Freeze property
- Hold value
- Blocked interest
Rejecting
- Decline transaction
- Return funds
- No blocked property
Freeze vs refuse
FATF Ownership
- R.13
- Correspondent banking
- R.16
- Wire transfers
- R.17
- Third-party reliance
- R.24
- Legal persons
- R.25
- Legal arrangements
- R.40
- International cooperation
314(a) vs 314(b)
314(a)
- Law enforcement
- Mandatory search
- FinCEN request
314(b)
- FI to FI
- Voluntary sharing
- Safe harbor
Government vs peers
BSA Reports
- CTR
- Cash over $10k
- SAR
- Suspicious activity
- FBAR
- Foreign accounts
- CMIR
- Currency transport
- Form 8300
- Trade cash receipt
- Recordkeeping
- Generally five years
PATRIOT Act
- 311
- Special measures
- 312
- Foreign correspondent EDD
- 313
- No shell banks
- 314(a)
- Law-enforcement requests
- 314(b)
- FI voluntary sharing
- 326
- CIP rule
Sanctions
- SDN
- Blocked person list
- 50% Rule
- Aggregate blocked ownership
- Blocking
- Freeze property
- Rejecting
- Return prohibited payment
- SSI
- Sectoral restrictions
- License
- Authorized exception
BSA Pillars
Controls, officer, training, testing, CDD.
ControlsOfficerTrainingTestingCDD
CDD vs EDD
CDD
- Baseline understanding
- Normal risk
- Ongoing monitoring
EDD
- Extra measures
- Higher risk
- Senior scrutiny
Risk drives depth
Program Action Picker
- Unknown customer→CIP
- High-risk customer→EDD
- Control failure→Look-back
- Alert seems suspicious→Investigate
- Suspicion confirmed→File SAR
- Program weakness→Independent testing
Program Pillars
- Controls
- Ongoing compliance
- Officer
- Day-to-day owner
- Training
- Appropriate personnel
- Testing
- Independent assurance
- CDD
- Risk-based procedures
- CIP
- Identity verification
Risk Lens
Customer, product, geography, channel drive risk.
CustomerProductGeographyChannel
Inherent vs Residual
Inherent
- Before controls
- Raw exposure
- Business profile
Residual
- After controls
- Remaining exposure
- Board appetite
Before vs after
Three Lines
- First line
- Owns risk
- Second line
- Sets oversight
- Third line
- Independent assurance
- Board
- Oversight accountability
- Senior management
- Resources culture
- MLRO
- Reporting lead
Risk Assessment
- Products
- Service exposure
- Customers
- Relationship exposure
- Geography
- Jurisdiction exposure
- Channels
- Delivery exposure
- Inherent risk
- Before controls
- Residual risk
- After controls
Tool Flow
Screen names; monitor behavior; validate models.
ScreenMonitorValidate
Screening vs Monitoring
Screening
- List matching
- Customer or payment
- Point-in-time
Monitoring
- Behavior patterns
- Transaction history
- Ongoing detection
Names vs behavior
Tool Picker
- Check sanctions→Screening
- Detect patterns→TM
- Refresh KYC→pKYC
- Trace wallets→Blockchain analytics
- Explain alerts→Case management
- Tune scenarios→Model validation
Customer Lifecycle
- Onboarding
- Initial identity controls
- KYC
- Know customer
- CDD
- Understand relationship
- EDD
- Higher-risk measures
- pKYC
- Event-driven refresh
- Offboarding
- Exit decision
Technology Controls
- Screening
- List matching
- TM
- Pattern detection
- Rules
- Threshold scenarios
- Models
- Statistical detection
- AI
- Assisted analysis
- Blockchain analytics
- Wallet tracing
Data Quality
- Completeness
- Required fields present
- Accuracy
- Values reflect reality
- Timeliness
- Current enough
- Lineage
- Source to output
- Taxonomy
- Shared definitions
- Access
- Controlled permissions
Common Traps
CTR Is Not SAR
Cash threshold report ≠ Suspicion report
No Tipping Off
Internal escalation allowed ≠ Customer disclosure forbidden
PEP Is Risk-Based
Higher scrutiny ≠ Not automatic exit
EDD Needs Evidence
Document source of funds ≠ Do not rely titles
50 Percent Aggregates
Direct ownership counts ≠ Indirect ownership counts
Tools Need Humans
AI assists analysts ≠ Analysts own decisions
Risk Changes Over Time
Onboarding snapshot ≠ Ongoing monitoring
Last Minute
- 1.Blueprint: 30/20/30/20
- 2.Answer all questions; no penalty
- 3.ML stages: placement, layering, integration
- 4.FATF R.1 means risk-based approach
- 5.CTR: cash over $10k
- 6.SAR: suspicion; no tipping
- 7.OFAC 50% aggregates ownership
- 8.CDD baseline; EDD higher risk
- 9.Three lines: own, oversee, assure
- 10.Inherent before; residual after controls
- 11.Screen names; monitor behavior
- 12.Document every escalation decision
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