Training Course

Overview

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview is a comprehensive professional training course designed to provide employees with a practical understanding of money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing, and the organizational controls used to prevent financial crime. The course introduces the fundamental concepts of AML compliance and explains why effective financial crime prevention requires participation across the organization, not only within compliance departments. Participants will develop the knowledge required to recognize suspicious activities, understand customer and transaction risks, follow internal escalation procedures, protect sensitive information, and contribute effectively to an organization's AML compliance culture.

The course provides a structured examination of the international AML framework, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations, risk-based approaches, Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Know Your Customer (KYC), Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD), beneficial ownership, sanctions and screening considerations, transaction monitoring, suspicious transaction reporting, recordkeeping, employee responsibilities, and compliance governance. Participants will examine how money laundering can occur through different stages and channels, how criminals attempt to conceal the origins or ownership of illicit funds, and how organizations can identify risk indicators. The course also addresses the relationship between AML controls and broader financial crime, including terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

Through practical exercises, case studies, transaction scenarios, customer-profile reviews, risk-rating activities, red-flag identification exercises, escalation simulations, and compliance decision-making activities, participants will learn how AML principles apply to everyday work. Scenarios include unusual cash activity, rapid movement of funds, complex ownership structures, inconsistent customer information, high-risk jurisdictions, unusual transaction patterns, third-party payments, suspected fraud, sanctions alerts, and potential attempts to circumvent established controls. Participants will use practical tools such as KYC checklists, customer risk-rating matrices, beneficial ownership questionnaires, transaction review worksheets, red-flag libraries, escalation templates, AML control checklists, training records, and suspicious-activity case documentation.

By progressing from foundational AML awareness to advanced risk-based application, the course enables staff to understand their individual responsibilities within an organization's financial crime prevention framework. The program emphasizes a strong compliance culture, proportional risk management, effective customer due diligence, accurate documentation, timely escalation, confidentiality, ongoing monitoring, and continuous improvement. The course concludes with an integrated AML Staff Compliance Framework that connects customer onboarding, risk assessment, monitoring, investigation, escalation, reporting, recordkeeping, training, and management oversight into a practical 30-, 60-, and 90-day AML improvement roadmap.

Course Duration

10 Days (80 Hours)

Target Participants

This course is suitable for:

• New Employees Requiring AML Awareness

• Customer Service and Front-Office Staff

• Banking and Financial Services Employees

• Compliance Officers and Compliance Teams

• KYC and Customer Due Diligence Professionals

• AML Analysts and Investigators

• Risk Management Professionals

• Internal Audit Professionals

• Fraud Prevention and Financial Crime Teams

• Operations and Transaction Processing Staff

• Relationship Managers and Account Managers

• Payments and Remittance Personnel

• Money Services Business Employees

• FinTech and Digital Financial Services Professionals

• Legal and Corporate Governance Professionals

• Senior Managers and Business Leaders

• Employees With Customer Onboarding Responsibilities

• Employees Involved in Transaction Monitoring or Escalation

• Professionals Responsible for Regulatory Compliance

• Organizations Seeking to Strengthen AML Awareness and Controls

Course Objectives

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

• Explain the purpose and importance of Anti-Money Laundering controls.

• Define money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.

• Explain the major stages and methods associated with money laundering.

• Understand the international AML and financial crime prevention framework.

• Explain the role of the Financial Action Task Force and its Recommendations.

• Understand the principles of a risk-based AML approach.

• Identify different categories of money laundering and financial crime risk.

• Understand the responsibilities of employees in an AML compliance program.

• Explain Know Your Customer and Customer Due Diligence requirements.

• Understand customer identification and verification principles.

• Identify beneficial owners and understand beneficial ownership risks.

• Apply customer risk-rating principles.

• Understand Simplified Due Diligence and Enhanced Due Diligence concepts.

• Identify circumstances requiring enhanced customer investigation.

• Recognize high-risk customer, product, service, geographic, and delivery-channel factors.

• Understand politically exposed person considerations.

• Recognize sanctions and screening risks within customer and transaction processes.

• Identify common money laundering red flags.

• Recognize suspicious transaction patterns and unusual customer behavior.

• Understand the purpose and principles of transaction monitoring.

• Apply basic transaction review techniques.

• Distinguish between unusual activity and activity requiring further investigation.

• Understand internal escalation and suspicious-activity reporting processes.

• Recognize the importance of timely and accurate escalation.

• Understand confidentiality and restrictions surrounding suspicious-activity investigations and reporting.

• Understand AML recordkeeping and documentation requirements.

• Maintain accurate and auditable customer due diligence records.

• Recognize common methods used to conceal beneficial ownership and source of funds.

• Understand Source of Funds and Source of Wealth concepts.

• Identify risks associated with complex corporate structures.

• Recognize common typologies involving cash, payments, trade, digital channels, and cross-border transactions.

• Identify potential risks associated with correspondent banking and third-party relationships.

• Understand basic trade-based money laundering risks.

• Recognize financial crime risks associated with digital assets and emerging technologies.

• Understand the relationship between AML, fraud, corruption, sanctions, and other financial crime risks.

• Apply AML risk indicators to realistic customer and transaction scenarios.

• Conduct basic customer-risk and transaction-risk assessments.

• Use practical AML checklists and review tools.

• Identify weaknesses in customer onboarding and monitoring controls.

• Understand the role of compliance monitoring, quality assurance, and internal audit.

• Recognize the consequences of AML control failures.

• Understand regulatory, financial, operational, and reputational risks associated with non-compliance.

• Apply ethical decision-making principles to AML situations.

• Strengthen employee awareness and participation in AML compliance.

• Develop practical AML control improvement recommendations.

• Conduct an AML staff-awareness and control-gap assessment.

• Develop an integrated AML Staff Compliance Framework.

• Create a practical 30-, 60-, and 90-day AML improvement roadmap.

Course Content

Day 1: AML Fundamentals and Financial Crime Awareness

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. Introduction to Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime Prevention
2. Definitions of Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing
3. The Three Broad Stages of Money Laundering: Placement, Layering, and Integration
4. Common Money Laundering Methods, Channels, and Typologies
5. Understanding the Financial Crime Ecosystem and Criminal Threats
6. Introduction to the FATF and International AML Standards
7. Overview of the FATF Recommendations and Risk-Based Approach
8. Employee Responsibilities and the Importance of an AML Compliance Culture
9. Practical Exercise: Identifying Money Laundering Indicators in Everyday Business Activities
10. Case Study: Tracing the Movement of Illicit Funds Through Multiple Transactions

Day 2: AML Governance, Risk Assessment, and Compliance Responsibilities

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. AML Governance and the Three Lines Model
2. Board, Senior Management, Compliance, and Employee Responsibilities
3. Enterprise-Wide AML Risk Assessment Fundamentals
4. Customer, Product, Service, Geographic, and Delivery-Channel Risk
5. Applying a Risk-Based Approach to AML Controls
6. Risk Appetite, Risk Tolerance, and AML Control Prioritization
7. AML Policies, Procedures, Controls, and Staff Accountability
8. Compliance Training, Awareness, Monitoring, and Quality Assurance
9. Practical Exercise: Developing an AML Risk-Rating Matrix
10. Case Study: Assessing AML Risks Across Different Customer and Product Categories

Day 3: KYC, Customer Identification, and Customer Due Diligence

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. Know Your Customer Principles and Objectives
2. Customer Identification and Verification Requirements
3. Customer Due Diligence Processes and Documentation
4. Individual Customer Due Diligence and Identity Verification
5. Corporate and Legal-Entity Customer Due Diligence
6. Beneficial Ownership Identification and Verification
7. Understanding Source of Funds and Source of Wealth
8. Customer Risk Classification and Periodic Review
9. Practical Exercise: Completing a KYC and Customer Risk Assessment
10. Case Study: Identifying Inconsistencies in a High-Risk Customer Profile

Day 4: Enhanced Due Diligence, PEPs, Sanctions, and High-Risk Customers

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. Simplified, Standard, and Enhanced Due Diligence Concepts
2. Identifying Circumstances Requiring Enhanced Due Diligence
3. Politically Exposed Persons and Related Risk Considerations
4. Family Members and Close Associates of PEPs
5. High-Risk Countries, Jurisdictions, Products, and Business Activities
6. Sanctions Screening and Sanctions-Related Compliance Risks
7. Adverse Media, Reputation Risk, and Open-Source Information
8. Ongoing Customer Monitoring and Trigger Events for Review
9. Practical Exercise: Conducting Enhanced Due Diligence on a High-Risk Customer
10. Case Study: Resolving Multiple Risk Indicators During Customer Onboarding

Day 5: Transaction Monitoring and Suspicious Activity Recognition

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. Fundamentals of AML Transaction Monitoring
2. Understanding Customer Transaction Profiles and Expected Activity
3. Unusual Transactions, Suspicious Activity, and Behavioral Indicators
4. Cash Transactions and Structuring or Smurfing Indicators
5. Rapid Movement of Funds and Unusual Account Activity
6. Third-Party Payments, Unrelated Parties, and Pass-Through Activity
7. Cross-Border Transactions and Geographic Risk Indicators
8. Transaction Monitoring Alerts, Investigation, and Escalation
9. Practical Exercise: Reviewing Transactions for AML Red Flags
10. Case Study: Investigating a Suspicious Transaction Pattern Across Multiple Accounts

Day 6: AML Typologies, Emerging Risks, and Financial Crime Channels

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. Common AML Typologies in Banking and Financial Services
2. Trade-Based Money Laundering Fundamentals
3. Correspondent Banking and Nested Relationship Risks
4. Cash-Intensive Business and High-Volume Transaction Risks
5. Fraud, Corruption, Bribery, and Money Laundering Connections
6. Digital Financial Services and Online Payment Risks
7. Digital Asset and Virtual Asset-Related AML Risk Awareness
8. Emerging Technologies, New Payment Methods, and Evolving Criminal Techniques
9. Practical Exercise: Mapping Financial Crime Red Flags to AML Typologies
10. Case Study: Detecting an Evolving Money Laundering Scheme Using Multiple Channels

Day 7: Suspicious Activity Escalation, Reporting, and Documentation

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. Internal Suspicious Activity Escalation Processes
2. Employee Responsibilities When Suspicious Activity Is Identified
3. Building a Clear and Evidence-Based Suspicion Narrative
4. Suspicious Transaction and Suspicious Activity Reporting Principles
5. Regulatory Reporting Timelines and Jurisdiction-Specific Requirements
6. Confidentiality, Information Security, and Tipping-Off Risks
7. AML Case Files, Evidence, Documentation, and Audit Trails
8. Communicating With Compliance and Investigation Teams
9. Practical Exercise: Preparing an Internal AML Escalation Report
10. Case Study: Managing a Suspicious Activity Investigation From Initial Alert to Escalation

Day 8: AML Controls, Recordkeeping, Monitoring, and Assurance

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. AML Control Frameworks and Key Preventive Controls
2. Customer Onboarding Controls and KYC Quality Assurance
3. Transaction Monitoring Controls and Alert Management
4. Screening Controls and Alert Disposition
5. AML Recordkeeping and Document Retention Principles
6. Compliance Monitoring and Control Testing
7. Internal Audit, Independent Testing, and Assurance Activities
8. Identifying Control Gaps, Exceptions, and Remediation Requirements
9. Practical Exercise: Conducting an AML Control Effectiveness Review
10. Case Study: Developing Corrective Actions Following an AML Control Failure

Day 9: Advanced AML Risk Management and Regulatory Readiness

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. Advanced Risk-Based AML Decision-Making
2. Connecting Customer Risk, Transaction Risk, and Enterprise Risk
3. Complex Ownership Structures and Hidden Beneficial Ownership
4. Network Analysis and Relationship-Based Transaction Risk
5. Customer Exit, Restrictions, and Risk Acceptance Considerations
6. AML Data Quality, Technology, and Automated Monitoring
7. Preparing for Regulatory Reviews, Supervisory Examinations, and Audits
8. AML Program Effectiveness, Key Risk Indicators, and Management Reporting
9. Practical Exercise: Conducting an Integrated AML Compliance Gap Assessment
10. Capstone Scenario: Managing a Complex Customer With Multiple AML Risk Indicators

Day 10: Integrated AML Staff Compliance Framework and Continuous Improvement

Module 1: Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Staff Overview

Topics

1. Integrating AML Awareness, KYC, Due Diligence, Monitoring, and Reporting
2. Designing an Integrated AML Staff Compliance Framework
3. Establishing Clear Employee Responsibilities and Escalation Pathways
4. Strengthening Risk-Based Customer Onboarding and Ongoing Monitoring
5. Integrating AML Controls With Fraud, Sanctions, and Broader Financial Crime Programs
6. Developing AML Training, Communication, and Employee Awareness Programs
7. Establishing AML Metrics, Quality Assurance, Monitoring, and Continuous Improvement
8. Conducting a Comprehensive AML Staff and Control Gap Assessment
9. Capstone Exercise: Designing and Presenting an Integrated AML Staff Compliance Improvement Program
10. Final Assessment, Capstone Presentation, Peer Feedback, 30-, 60-, and 90-Day AML Improvement Roadmap, and Course Review