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CAMS Exam Simplified: AML/CFT Program, Customer Due Diligence, Red Flags

Chapter 3 : Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing Compliance Programs

This chapter is important in comparison to the rest of chapters because it talks about the foundation of AML/CFT or how the AML/CFT program should be laid out in the organization. So, if you are not happy with your current AML/CFT department in your organization or think that there may be some ways to improve the overall functionality of your department then this chapter will provide you with a lot of guidelines. Finally, this chapter is the longest of all of the other chapters, so you imagine correct, that more portion of the exam question will be directed towards this chapter.

If you have directly landed to this chapter you may want to go out previous articles before starting this on:

Preparing for CAMS Exam

CAMS Study Guide Chapter 1 Review

CAMS Study Guide Chapter 2 Review

Let’s dive in:

1. Risk

This section talks all about what there is about risk relating to AML/CFT and how to manage it. If you don’t know how to handle risk, you become paranoid. It starts with explaining why a risk-based approach is more preferable than other methods since instead of doing guesswork, you focus on the risky areas first. Then it talks about of Risk, yes they come in different shapes and sizes, how can risk be quantified with risk scoring matrix, what are three risk factors: products, geography, product and services that is used for the risk assessment of customer.

Point To Remember:

This section wants your head wrapped around the concept of measuring the risk of AML/CFT. From the previous chapters, you already know about the risk of AML/CFT, now this chapter focus on managing those risk. You can manage something if you can measure it in some ways. That is what, Risk assessment is about.

  1. AML/CFT program:

This section talks about the 4 main pillars of the AML/CFT program like having a system of 1. internal policies, procedures, and controls, 2. Having compliance function with the designated compliance officer and his AML/CFT duties like Transaction monitoring, STR, Reporting and so on 3. AML/CFT training regarding who to train and what to train 4. Independent Audit to monitor effectiveness.

Point To Remember:

The best way for you to understand this is by looking at the bigger picture. AML/CFT policies are a framework within which all AML/CFT activities need to conduct. A Compliance department with its’ department head with adequate authority is a must to implement this policy. The best method of implementing AML/CFT policy is educating your staff through numerous trainings. Finally, an internal audit is necessary to examine whether the AML system is effective or not, whether any improvement is needed.

  1. Compliance Culture:

Compliance Culture, in simple words means, that good deeds should be promoted, bad deeds should be punished and everyone should be treated equally. If your supervisor asks you to turn a blind eye for any activity that you think suspicious, you should have the freedom to report that supervisor without fear of being reprimanded.

  1. KYC and CDD:

Here is a trick question, Is Know Your Customer(KYC) and Customer Due Diligence(CDD)  the same thing? If your answer is No, you are incorrect. If you do proper CDD mechanism in your organization, you can be rest assured that KYC for every customer in your organization will be automatically completed. The rest that follows in this article is related to elements of CDD

The element of CDD:

There are seven elements of CDD, beginning with customer identification that follows through risk profiling and ends with investigation.

Point to Remember:

The seven elements can be treated as seven steps of CDD. You will first assess risk of the customer based on the information provided by him/her and then decide whether to establish a business relationship with him/her. Finally, you monitor his/her transaction to verify whether the pattern of transaction matches with customer profile or not; if not you raise STR.

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  • Enhanced Due Diligence(EDD)

You may already know that EDD is done for high-risk customers. High-risk customer can be classified on the basis of his nature, banking products and service that he opts for and geographical location to which he belongs to. This section talks about what extra supporting documents or information that you need to collect from the customer if he/she is identified as a high-risk customer.

Point To Remember:

There is the whole list of items that are collected from high-risk customers that you need to remember. So the best trick is that you understand what is usually taken in Standard Due diligence(SDD) of customers and compare this with EDD. For e.g. in SDD you may ask for the information about the source of income of the customer while in EDD you may want to obtain supporting documents regarding the source of income.

5. Sanctions

It is really shaming that an important topic like this is given little importance in the CAMS exam. Maybe this is because ACAMS have a separate certification for Sanction know as Certified Global Sanction Specialist(CGSS). Anyway, this section talks briefly about various categories in sanction and types of the sanction imposed by the UN, US, and EU.

Point To Remember:

This topic gives you the general idea of sanction and it is really interesting to go through it. Do focus on the major provision UN, US, and EU Sanctions. Also, mind the differences between various categories of the sanctions. Another really interesting way to understand about the sanctions is about understanding global conflict. For e.g. We all know that sanctions on Iran are due to Nuclear Reasons but the main reason goes back to decades ago when the conflict between Israel and Palestine started. You can look up Ted-Ed videos.

6. Politically Exposed Person Screening

Again this is an important concept that receives less attention. It tells you what are mechanisms to identify PEPs and their related parties.

Point To Remember:

The only thing you have to remember here is, your PEP screening is as good as your PEP database. If you have a good database with lots of lists of PEPs in it, then you will be able to identify PEPs through Name Screening. However, These are not sure-shot techniques to identify PEPs in real life but it serves CAMS Exam purpose.

7. Know Your Employee

Do you have heard the story of Ramayan, Hindu Mythology, where there is one character Bivishan, who betrays his brother Ravan, reveals all the weaknesses of Ravan to Ram so Ram can defeat Ravan. If you don’t know the story of Ramayan, just know this Ravan is Bad Guy while Ram is a good guy so that makes Bivishan also a good guy. Sometimes we are so focused on external threats that we forget about internal ones which usually comes from bad intention employees. Therefore, proper CDD of the employees should be done via background screening, references, KYC update at the time of promotion or role change.

Point To Remember:

This is a short topic and quite straightforward so. However, there are some papers which outlines key provision that states what need to be performed while doing CDD of your employees like searching employee name in the database, checking up with their references and many others. You need to know them.

DO YOU MEASURE COST IN TERMS OF MONEY OR TIME/EFFORT? YOU HAVE ALREADY SPEND A SUBSTANTIAL SUM FOR REGISTERING THIS EXAM, NOW, HOW ABOUT REDUCING YOUR PREPARATION TIME AND EFFORT AND GETTING PASSING SCORE OR MORE BY ACQUIRING THIS CAMS EXAMINATION PREPARATION KIT WITH ALL AND ENOUGH RESOURCES, JUST FOR YOU TO PASS THE CAMS EXAM.

8. Suspicious Activity Reporting and Transaction Monitoring:

This section talks about how to establish SAR/STR and Transaction Reporting Mechanism in an organization and if you are going to implement an automated solution for transaction monitoring then what are the areas that need to be the focus and so on.

Point To Remember:

This one is easy to understand.

9.Red Flags

This section goes in great length in providing you the list of suspicious indicators relating to customer behavior, cash transactions, wire transfer, trade finance, investment, terrorism financing that you need to watch for the purpose of Suspicious Transaction Reporting. This is important section as it is the basis for the scenario-based question that is mostly asked in CAMS Exam

Point To Remember:

This will be a lot to take in, our best advice for you is to focus on that red flags which you do not know o or found unique and ignore the red flags that you are already familiar with know them. Also, this is a good time for you to go through Egmont 100 cases. They are very interesting to read and it also helps you to understand different techniques employed by money launderers and terrorists to channel their funds.

A final note to our readers, we have introduced the CAMS Forum section where you can put any question relating CAMS exam, CAMS study guide, general money laundering issues. We invite you all to participate here to gain and share knowledge. You can go to this forum by clicking this link. Just register to spread your word:

https://siorik.com/community/

Please share this article if you found it useful and believe it will be useful to others.

[stextbox id=’alert’] WE ARE PLEASE TO INFORM YOU THAT, WE HAVE COMPLETED ARTICLE SERIES AND YOUTUBE SERIES OF OVERVIEW OF ALL CHAPTERS OF CAMS STUDY GUIDE. THEY CAN BE ACCESSED BY CLICKING FOLLOWING LINKS.[/stextbox]

Chapter 1: Risks and Methods of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Chapter 2 : International AML/CFT Standards

Chapter 3: Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing Compliance Programs

Chapter 4: Conducting and Responding to Investigations

Play a Quiz to Familiarize Yourself With CAMS Exam Questions !!!

 

We hope you have found this article useful. Please don’t forget to share.

 

ABOUT AUTHOR
Kiran Kumar Shah
https://learnwithsiorik.com/tutors/

CAMS Exam Simplified: Investigations, Suspicious Transaction Reporting, Functions of FIU

CHAPTER 4:Conducting and Responding to Investigations

Welcome to the overview of the fourth and final chapter of the CAMS Study Guide. This chapter is the shortest of all chapter but a very important one. This chapter is not that difficult to follow, although they are some technical concepts but it understands to follow. The main thing is to remember that this chapter follows in order or steps and our article will help you to comprehend these stages.

 

If you have directly landed to this chapter you may want to go out previous articles before starting this on:

Preparing for CAMS Exam

CAMS Study Guide Chapter 1 Review

CAMS Study Guide Chapter 2 Review

CAMS Study Guide Chapter 3 Review

Let’s Us Dive In:

 

  1. Sources of Investigations:

This section talks about how the internal investigation for suspicious transaction starts in financial institutions. It explains that sources of information that trigger investigations like Transaction Monitoring, Front Staff, Internal Hotlines, adverse media. Further, it explains how the investigation process should be carried in the organization by collecting all necessary documents, contacting concerned employees and so on.

Point To Remember:

This section is quite straight forward, you will not face any difficulty in understanding it.

 

  1. Response to Government Investigations:

This section talks about how the organization should act when received with a warrant or subpoena received from regulatory bodies for investigation. How should the organization internally prepare to face these kinds of investigations?

Point To Remember:

You need to understands the steps that should be usually followed by the organization after receiving a government search warrant or subpoena. For e.g. first, they should collect all the necessary information, documents, files, then after, they should interview the relevant employees. The main important thing, legal counsel is necessary before you pass any information to legal authorities.

 

  1. Tools for Investigations:

This part explains how a financial institution should use the internet to carry out an investigation.

Point To Remember:

Although, bit technical at sometimes, this section is quite easy to follow. They are certain case studies regarding searching for information on the internet that you may find interesting but mind you they can be asked as a scenario-based question in the exam.

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  1. STR Filing:

This component talks about how the STR decision mechanism should be established in the organization, how it should be reported of FIU and subsequently to management. Finally, one should ensure only quality STR should be reported to FIU so that FIU can understand STR and act on it.

Point To Remember:

This section is not confusing, could be easily understood.

 

  1. Closing Account:

It specifies different factors that need to be considered before closing the account which you need to remember. For e.g. after filing STR, if you think that if you let the account to operate, it will pose a huge reputation or regulatory risk to the organization, then you might want to close that account.

 

  1. Law Enforcement Investigations and Organization Response

This section talks about how the investigations are carried by law enforcement, what are steps they perform while carrying investigation. Further, factors they consider while deciding prosecuted the organization. On the other side of the coin, it goes on explaining how the organization should deal with these inquiries from law enforcement when they should take ask for the legal counselor. How to prepare the documents to be present to law enforcers. If law enforcers want to interview the employees, how should an organization should prepare its employees? Finally,  how the organization decides whether they should carry their own internal investigation before dealing with law enforcement.

Point To Remember:

Although content looks substantial, it is not that difficult to follow. The main components in this section are written in certain order so you need to focus on the major content only.

 

DON’T STUDY HARD BUT SMART. Our Study notes for this chapter are prepared in easy to follow, highlighting significant components for each section. It is great resource for you to pass the CAMs exam which if you like can buy by following the link.

 

  1. AML/CFT Corporation:

This part states how the money laundering and terrorist financing information is shared among different countries to catch culprits through the use of mutual treaties, extradition process.

Point To Remember:

You need to remember the general procedure that is laid out by these treaties for sharing information.

 

DO YOU MEASURE COST IN TERMS OF MONEY OR TIME/EFFORT? YOU HAVE ALREADY SPEND A SUBSTANTIAL SUM FOR REGISTERING THIS EXAM, NOW, HOW ABOUT REDUCING YOUR PREPARATION TIME AND EFFORT AND GETTING PASSING SCORE OR MORE BY ACQUIRING THIS CAMS EXAMINATION PREPARATION KIT WITH ALL AND ENOUGH RESOURCES, JUST FOR YOU TO PASS THE CAMS EXAM.

 

 

  1. Financial Intelligence Unit:

This final section talks about the 3 main function that is carried out by FIU: Collect, Analysis and dissemination. Further, it introduces some FIU in different countries. FATF recommendations regarding what should be the activities of the FIU should incorporate.

Point To Remember:

You need to understand different underlying concepts of what are FAFT recommendation, what are steps followed at the time of sharing information between FIUs.

 

With this article, we have come to end of 4 part series of CAMS Study Guide Chapter Review.

A final note to our readers, we have introduced CAMS Forum section where you can put any question relating CAMS exam, CAMS study guide, general money laundering issues. We invite you all to participate here to gain and share knowledge. You can go to this forum by clicking this link. Just register to spread your word:

https://siorik.com/community/

Please share this article if you found it useful and believe it will be useful to others.

[stextbox id=’alert’] WE ARE PLEASE TO INFORM YOU THAT, WE HAVE COMPLETED ARTICLE SERIES AND YOUTUBE SERIES OF OVERVIEW OF ALL CHAPTERS OF CAMS STUDY GUIDE. THEY CAN BE ACCESSED BY CLICKING FOLLOWING LINKS.[/stextbox]

Chapter 1: Risks and Methods of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Chapter 2 : International AML/CFT Standards

Chapter 3: Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing Compliance Programs

Chapter 4: Conducting and Responding to Investigations

Play a Quiz to Familiarize Yourself With CAMS Exam Questions !!!

 

We hope you have found this article useful. Please don’t forget to share.

CAMS Exam Simplified: Introduction to FATF, WolfsBurg, European Union, OFAC and Many More

CHAPTER 2 : INTERNATIONAL AML/CFT STANDARDS

Welcome to all of you to my next web series of simplifying CAMS Study Guide. I hope those who are preparing for the CAMS exam or who are wondering about the CAMS exam will find this useful. If you have landed to this page, directly then you may want to go to our previous articles regarding:

  1. Preparing for CAMS Exam
  2. Overview of Chapter 1 of the CAMS Study Guide

The chapter 2 is straightforward, no tricky question is going to ask you from this chapter. But here is the catch, you need to learn by heart majority of the components here. Therefore, you need to understand the topic as well as keep it locked in your memory. Our golden advice is; rather than cramming the content, we suggest on repetition. The major advantage of this is with each repetition, you will become more familiarized with the topic and you will start remembering the content automatically without much effort. Further, in this article, we will share you tips and trick that you can use to improve your recollection.

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Lets Dive In:

  1. Financial Action Task Force(FATF)

Here you are going to learn about different concepts regarding FATF like what are its objectives, scope, recommendations, evaluation criteria to become its member, what are non-cooperative countries and so on. This portion covers a high percentage in this chapter so you guessed it right, it is very important.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

Now, it is good time to download Updated 2012 FATF Recommendations. Some of you already know that previously there were 40 plus 9 recommendations, 40 were for money laundering and 9 were for terrorism financing. However, now these have been clubbed together into 40 Recommendations. If you ask, why I should read FATF recommendations, then the answer is most concept in CAMS Study Guide is derived from FATF recommendation, so if you read now, it will be simpler later to understand these ideas. You may be asked about specifics of evaluation criteria or highlights of the 2012 recommendation which you need to memorize.

2. BASEL Committee

This section talks about the concept of BASEL committee and guidelines it had introduced regarding anti-money laundering at various timelines that has to be followed by different financial institutions.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

This section is quite simple; you need to understand what provisions it had introduced at various years in its different guidelines paper. For e.g. in 1988, BASEL issued a statement that require Financial Institutions to perform customer identification procedures, staff training, record-keeping. In 2001, BASEL introduced a paper that introduced four key elements of Know Your Customer programs. Then list goes on. Our suggestion is you create a timeline chart detailing out major provisions so that it will easy for you to understand and memorize.

3. European Union(EU) Directives:

You will learn about four different EU directives and major provisions contained in these directives.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

We advise you to create comparative chart when you list down all 4 EU directives with their major provisions. In this way, you can understand what major change was brought by the succeeding directive because in exam you will be asked how was this directive different from other directive, what major changes it brought.

 

DO YOU MEASURE COST IN TERMS OF MONEY OR TIME/EFFORT? YOU HAVE ALREADY SPEND A SUBSTANTIAL SUM FOR REGISTERING THIS EXAM, NOW, HOW ABOUT REDUCING YOUR PREPARATION TIME AND EFFORT AND GETTING PASSING SCORE OR MORE BY ACQUIRING THIS CAMS EXAMINATION PREPARATION KIT WITH ALL AND ENOUGH RESOURCES, JUST FOR YOU TO PASS THE CAMS EXAM.

 

4. FATF-STYLE Regional Bodies and Associate Members

This section talks about 8 FATF-Style regional and associate members of FATF, what are they and their scope and objectives.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

Focus on what was the reason that lead to the establishment of these organizations. For e.g., Carribean Financial Action Task Force was established to combat drug trafficking in South America Andean Region. Also, emphasize on what area they cover, it is worthless to remember each and every state but you can remember area, like Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) covers countries in West Africa while Asia/Pacific Group On Money Laundering(APG) covers the countries in ASIA/PACIFIC Region.

5. Egmont Group

You will read about this more later in other chapters. But, for now, just understand this Egmont Group is formed as a collection of  159 Financial Intelligent Units (FIU) of all around the world to share information to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

6.Wolfsburg Principles

This section covers some of the principles of Wolfsburg like principles relating to private banking, corresponding banking and financing terrorism.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

These principles are briefly explained in this chapter. For full understanding, you may want to read the full principle. We suggest you to go to last chapter 7 of CAMS study Guide, where it has listed all Wolfsburg principles with their download link. You may want to download these principles and go through them once. It will help you to clarify various concepts of money laundering, terrorism financing.

7. World Bank and International Monetary Fund

Here you are going to understand what are these institutions stand for. Also, you are going to read about the different important papers introduced by these organizations relating to money laundering at different time periods.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

As said earlier you need to focus on the major provisions highlighted in this paper relating to anti-money laundering and terrorism financing.

KINDLY NOTE THAT ALMOST ALL PAPER, PROVISION INTRODUCED BY THIS ORGANIZATION ARE ALMOST SIMILAR TO EACH OTHER. SO, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO IDENTIFY WHICH PAPER OF WHAT ORGANIZATION IS TALKING ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR PROVISION. THIS IS WHERE OUR CAMS STUDY NOTES WILL HELP YOU TO IDENTIFY THESE PROVISION. IN THE STUDY NOTES WE HAVE LISTED THE NAME OF ORGANIZATION, ITS’ IMPORTANT PAPERS, AND HIGHLIGHTED MAJOR PROVISIONS. YOU JUST ONLY REVIEW IT ONLY, ALL THE HARD WORK IS DONE FOR YOU.

8.USA PATRIOT ACT:

If you already know about this then you must know this is very important not for your exam only but for every day to day work if you are already in the field of compliance or AML/CFT. This section quotes different sections of Act relating to correspondent banking, private banking which you need to know by heart. You don’t need to go through the whole USA patriot Act but some concepts may difficult to understand at first but with repetition, you will be able to cement this in your memory.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

Repetition.

A final note to our readers, we have introduced the CAMS Forum section where you can put any questions relating CAMS exam, CAMS study guide, general money laundering issues. We invite you all to participate here to gain and share knowledge. You can go to this forum by clicking this link. Just register to spread your word:

Please share this article if you found it useful and believe it will be useful to others.

[stextbox id=’alert’] WE ARE PLEASE TO INFORM YOU THAT, WE HAVE COMPLETED ARTICLE SERIES AND YOUTUBE SERIES OF OVERVIEW OF ALL CHAPTERS OF CAMS STUDY GUIDE. THEY CAN BE ACCESSED BY CLICKING FOLLOWING LINKS.[/stextbox]

Chapter 1: Risks and Methods of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Chapter 2 : International AML/CFT Standards

Chapter 3: Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing Compliance Programs

Chapter 4: Conducting and Responding to Investigations

Play a Quiz to Familiarize Yourself With CAMS Exam Questions !!!

Want to learn about what are FATF Recommendations. Click here!!!

 

We hope you have found this article useful. Please don’t forget to share.

 

ABOUT AUTHOR
Kiran Kumar Shah
https://learnwithsiorik.com/tutors/

CAMS Exam Simplified: Tools of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and its Threats

CHATPER 1: RISKS AND METHODS OF MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORIST FINANCING

First of all, congratulations to all of you who have decided to opt for CAMS certification. As you all know that it is internationally renowned and globally sought course in Anti-Money Laundering. As the saying goes, beautiful things are harder to get. Therefore, this certification is not easy, it needs a lot of hard work and patience. But with the right method, one can easily pass this certification.

Our aim here is to help candidates like to easily secure good marks in the CAMS exam without putting a lot of effort. So, welcome to our 4-part series of an overview of four different chapters of the CAMS study guide. We will tell you what is contained in these chapters and what should you focus on while studying the CAMS study guide. This article is not exhaustive in itself, but you may want to read this article before starting studying chapters of the CAMS study guide or at the time of review.

If you have landed to this page directly, then we suggest you go through this article first, which provides you guidance regarding how to prepare for the CAMS exam.

Let’s Dive IN:

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Chapter 1: Risk and Methods of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

This chapter introduces you to the general concept of money laundering and terrorist financing. Further, it also explains different financial medium that is susceptible to money laundering and terrorist financing.

  1. Concept of Money Laundering and its stages

As the name suggests you will be studying about the definition of money laundering and stages of money laundering

Points To Remember:

You may know the definition of money laundering but are you sure about its’ meaning. E.g., money laundering is not simply converting illegal money to legal money but it deals with hiding sources of income since the source of money can never be altered. Similarly, you may have studied investing in real estate is in the integration phase but it may happen also done in the placement phase. So you should be able to distinguish between this phase because the question asked regarding this will be very confusing.

2. Money Laundering consequences in Economy and Society in general

This part will provide you information regarding the what are negative impact that money laundering brings in the economic-social-political situation of the country and  in the extreme situation leading to failure of the economy of a country as a whole like Zimbabwe

Points To Remember:

This section is straight forward, just read through it

 

3. Methods of Money Laundering

This most important section of this chapter, most of the questions will be directed towards this portion. It contains explanations of different products/services provided by Banking Institutions that are vulnerable to money laundering as well as Non-Banking Institutions like Money Service Business, Insurance Companies, Non-Financial Business Professions like Casinos, dealers in precious stones, vehicle sellers, gatekeepers which can be easily converted to a vehicle for money laundering.

Points To Remember:

It may be a lot to take in. But you need to focus on part how this channel can be exploited for money laundering purpose, after all, you are going to be Anti-Money Laundering Expert

You may find difficulty understand some of the topics. So our suggestion is that you go for other reference materials. The best material would be Wolfsberg Principles which provide guides on how the monetary institutions should operate Private Banking, Prepaid Cards, Credit card and so on. 

 

DO YOU MEASURE COST IN TERMS OF MONEY OR TIME/EFFORT? YOU HAVE ALREADY SPEND A SUBSTANTIAL SUM FOR REGISTERING THIS EXAM, NOW, HOW ABOUT REDUCING YOUR PREPARATION TIME AND EFFORT AND GETTING PASSING SCORE OR MORE BY ACQUIRING THIS CAMS EXAMINATION PREPARATION KIT WITH ALL AND ENOUGH RESOURCES, JUST FOR YOU TO PASS THE CAMS EXAM.

4. Trade-Based Money Laundering Techniques:

This part mainly focused on money laundering via trade finance or a Letter of Credit(LC).

Points To Remember:

This part may be difficult to grasp if you don’t have quite a deal idea of LC. Our suggestion to understand the basic concept of LC and then go through this part. Also, take care of the Black Market Peso example, you need to understand how this system works because the scenario-based question may become from this.

5. New Payment Product and Services

This portion mainly talks about money laundering threats that have been risen from the proliferation of instruments like a digital wallet, prepaid card, virtual currency leading to an increase in the number of anonymous transactions.

Points To Remember:

This might be confusing for some of you, who have never experience or heard about these alien products. But, don’t let your imagination run wild, you can again take the help of Wolfsburg principle here which explains comprehensively on how these products work and what are anti-money laundering mechanisms and so on.

6. Misuse of Corporate Vehicles

This will familiarize you with how different types of legal entities like public limited, private ownership, trusts are being used to as instruments to hide the beneficial owners and to perpetrate money laundering activities.

Points To Remember:

You should have a clear understanding of how complex legal ownership is created to hide beneficial owners and what is distinguishing features of these companies. E.g. shell and shelf companies, private investment companies, and limited liability companies. Also, there are important concepts like bearer shares that you need to be aware of.

7. Misuse of Corporate Vehicles

The chapter finishes with the clarification of terrorism financing that is what is the idea behind it, how are the financing being done, and finally how to identify them.

Points To Remember:

You need to understand the difference between Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing. We have to tell you, terrorism financing does not receive much focus in the overall CAMS study guide. You are going to read about terrorism financing in a great deal in this chapter only. However, it is really interesting to go through it. Like how charities organization and hawala systems are used to channel funds to finance terrorism.

A final note to our readers, we have introduced the CAMS Forum section where you can put any question relating CAMS exam, CAMS study guide, general money laundering issues. We invite you all to participate here to gain and share knowledge. You can go to this forum by clicking this link. Just register to spread your word:

Please share this article if you found it useful and believe it will be useful to others.

[stextbox id=’alert’] WE ARE PLEASE TO INFORM YOU THAT, WE HAVE COMPLETED ARTICLE SERIES AND YOUTUBE SERIES OF OVERVIEW OF ALL CHAPTERS OF CAMS STUDY GUIDE. THEY CAN BE ACCESSED BY CLICKING FOLLOWING LINKS.[/stextbox]

 

Chapter 1: Risks and Methods of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Chapter 2 : International AML/CFT Standards

Chapter 3: Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing Compliance Programs

Chapter 4: Conducting and Responding to Investigations

Play a Quiz to Familiarize Yourself With CAMS Exam Questions !!!

 

ABOUT AUTHOR
Kiran Kumar Shah
https://learnwithsiorik.com/tutors/

Safeguard your Banking Credentials from Man-in-Middle attack when using Public Internet

This video shows how attacker can steal your banking credentials when connected in Public WIFI and how you can safeguard yourself from that attack.

CAMS

This tutorials will explain you different techniques that will help you to pass CAMS exam easily.

Follow the following link to get more insight:

Become Successful in CAMS Exam with these TOP tips.

AML/CFT is Simple Concept, but it is Difficult to be Simple.

I like to begin this article with the well know English proverb “too many cooks spoil the broth”. This usually happens when people don’t know what the soup is and how it should taste. They only knew the word ‘SOUP’. A similar context applies in designing and implementing AML/CFT system in the bank and other corporate sectors. Despite having said that, some organizations have done very admirable jobs but some had complicated their AML/CFT system with practicability almost to zero. This article is for the latter organization.

The whole AML/CFT system can be summarized in the following figure:

Structure of AML/CFT system

Looks simple enough right. Our aim here is to help you understand the concept of how AML/CFT works so that you can implement it in your organization as required.

The First thing you require is some kind of board-level AML/CFT committee to provide a tone from the top for establishing a culture of compliance. They should fully understand and support compliance efforts and provide adequate resources to compliance function to help them carry AML/CFT duties effectively. They should actively participate to mitigate AML/CFT deficiencies.

The board-level committee should approve the AML/CFT program. The program should be risk-based that high-risk areas should receive more priority while less effort will be spent on low-risk areas. The major components of the AML/CFT program are:

A. Internal Policies and Control

B. Designated Compliance Function

C. Employee Training

D. Audit Function

A. Internal Policies and Control

The Following are its sub-components

    1. Know your customer

Know your customer is the main basis for AML/CFT programs. It includes the following:

     1.1 Customer Due Diligence:

Customer Due Diligence or simply put customer identification begins while establishing a relationship with the customer. It has the following components.

        1.1.1 Customer Identification:

This deal with collecting all the documents are required to uniquely identify your customer and to create a profile of that customer.

       1.1.2 Customer Profile:

It should contain sufficient information about the income source of the individual along with the nature of the customer so that it provides a benchmark to compare anticipated versus actual account activity. In other words, enable the institution to identify suspicious activity.

      1.1.3 Customer Risk Rating:

It deals with the assessment and grading of the risk presented by the customer’s account relationship. The risk classification can be based on geographical location in which the customer resides or conduct his business, product type like private banking may be high risk and customer type. On the basis of these risk classifications, a risk matrix can be developed by assigning a numeric value to each risk category. This will help to develop a risk profile of the customer as Prohibited, High Risk, Medium Risk, and Low Risk. The prohibited customer is usually terrorists or criminals while High Risk will be the PEP, those dealing in gold and ornaments.

  2. Monitoring

Customer transactions should be monitored to identify any suspicious activities. The transaction monitoring also includes preparing the following reports.

        2.1 Threshold Transaction Reporting (TTR):

Every FIU of each country has developed the guidelines for TTR, which should be followed to the letter.

       2.2 Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR):

Although guidelines are usually available for STR reporting by FIU Nepal, it is kind of subjective and discretionary. Therefore, the best method is to train front-line staff (usually called first defense) not necessarily the business desk staff, but Relationship Managers and other staff who usually are the direct point of contact of the customers.

        2.3 Sanction Screening:

Sanction screening is the only tool available to identify and prevent terrorist activity. All wire transfers must be screened for verifying whether the applicant or beneficiary is found in the terrorist and sanction list provided by UN, OFAC, HMT, EU, and MOHA(Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal). It is also necessary to screen customers before onboarding them in the organization.

   3. Investigation

Investigation and examination of unusual customer or account activity should be done if it is found inconsistent with anticipated activities for each client based on their occupation or type of business.

   4. Documentation

All the above process should be documented

 Types of CDD

i. Simplified CDD

Simplified CDD is usually carried for low risk and the high-risk customer can be limited to simple identification procedures.

ii. Enhanced CDD

Enhanced CDD is carried for high-risk customers, which includes obtaining information like the source of information, beneficiary details. It is recommended for ECDD account, the first payment to be carried out through an account in the customer’s name with a bank subject to the similar CDD standard

B.  Compliance Function

It is the second line of defense. The nature of the compliance function depends upon the organization’s nature, regulatory environment, and the specific risk of the organization. The department should have a compliance head with the appropriate authority. He/she is responsible for monitoring the AML/CFT program and maintaining its effectiveness.

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C. Employee Training

An effective training program should not only explain the relevant AML/CFT laws and regulations but also cover the institutions’ policies and procedures used to mitigate money laundering risks including recent examples of money laundering and terrorism news. The training should not be one size fits all category, it should be managed separately on the basis of whom to train, what to train, how to train, when to train, and where to train.

D. Audit Function

Audit of the AML/CFT program should be conducted at least once a year to examine the adequacy of CDD policies, procedures, and processes as well as compliance with regulatory requirements. It is essential to find any deficiency that exists in the program and ensure the program remains effective. The compliance manager as well as the Board committee should act promptly on the observation and recommendation given by an audit.

Following topics should also be considered while developing a robust AML/CFT system in your organization. 

Know Your Employee

It is necessary to have adequate knowledge of your employee. Background checks should be performed at the time of hiring staff as well as when the staff is promoted to a higher position, especially when he/she is going to appoint to positions where he/she can access confidential information.

Are Automated Solutions comforting or discomforting?

Automation is necessary, is vital, is efficient, but unfortunately, we are unable to utilize the full potential of automated software. There is an automated AML system that can perform CDD, transaction, swift sanction screening very efficiently and effectively. However, the problem arises when the organization does not know its requirements in the first place and are not able to mention their clear-cut specification in Request for Proposal. As a result, many organizations spend a lot of time on unnecessary customization of the system which causes the delay in the implementation, a further situation is aggravated when a system is unable to deliver results because of those customizations.

Whether to go for a Centralized or Decentralized KYC system

Usually, the organization has branches at a different location, each having its own Business Desk. Business desk staff acts as a point of contact for customers and open accounts and collects the documents. The main problem here is that the quality of KYC/CDD of the organization depends upon the understanding of the Business Desk Staff, further considering high turnover staff there is a never-ending learning curve. As a result, the centralized KYC system is more preferable. This will help to make the consistent KYC process as there will be no compromise in the collection of documents as all the staff in a centralized KYC system are specialized in their job. Staff turnover will be less impact. Further, any regulatory changes can be easily implemented since there is no need to train branch employees. Finally, it frees up the business desk employee’s time and they can now only act as Relationship Manager to deal with more customers which helps to increase the business of the organization.

The above is just the outline for implementing an effective AML/CFT system. Once you are familiar with the concept, you can add details as you wish. As per our earlier analogy of soup, the main ingredient for the chicken soup is chicken, the rest you can add as per your taste.

We, Risk Simplifiers is a team of expert AML/CFT professional, we help organizations to develop AML/CFT system, AML policies, and guidelines and also conduct AML/CFT audit.

Thank you for reading, please spread the word if you have found it useful.

Passing Certified Fraud Examiner Exam: Get all the necessary Information, Tips and Suggestions Right Here.

So, you have decided to be part of the world’s largest anti-fraud organization and premier provider of anti-fraud training and education. Together with nearly 85,000 members, the ACFE is reducing business fraud worldwide and inspiring public confidence in the integrity and objectivity within the profession.

[pullquote]”CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAM IS NOT A TOUGH COURSE TO STUDY OR EVEN PASS.”[/pullquote]

Well above is the widely distributed quoted by ACFE. But, before you embark on this journey, please be clear about your own goals. CFE is not a difficult course to study or even pass if you follow the given below tips. This purely based on the people’s experiences and opinion that CFE is definitely a good credential to have if you are involved in Risk Management professional like an auditor, compliance officer, risk manager. However, it is not going to boost your career immediately, maybe in long run as the fraud examiner profession is in a growing phase and there is not a quite demand for this profession right now. In spite of this, there is a good scope for this course in the near future as big scams, financial frauds, embezzlement is always in news headline in the everyday newspaper.

Congratulations, to you for selecting this interesting credential. We hope this degree will help you to progress in your career immensely. CFE is not a tough course, however, you could avoid some mistakes so that you could clear this course in flying colors. This is an online exam that you can take anywhere at your convenience. It might be confusing for someone who has never done this before, so it is better to be clear on some aspects like how to prepare when to submit documents, pay fees and how to attempt the exam.

  1.   Timeline

It is better if you decide when you are planning to take an exam like within 1 month, 3 months a year before attempting an exam. If you are planning to give the exam within 1 month, then pay your exam fee and submit your documents before 1 month, because ACFE will take some time to review these documents. You need to pay $400 for an exam or $300 if you have already bought a prep course. We have found some people waited 1 month for preparing for the exam, after which they submitted payment and documents and they had to wait for an extra one month time to take the exam.

  1.   Buy CFE Exam Prep course

We have good news and bad news for you. The good news is if you buy a Prep Course you don’t need to go through all 2000 pages long Fraud Examiner Manual. After you have bought prep course you will also receive fraud examiner manual in .pdf version without any cost. Oh, yes, you can use only the Fraud Examiner Manual to prepare for the exam. Fraud Examiner Manual is very long and it has covered lots of thing. You can learn a great deal from it. However, it depends on how long you are going to prepare for the CFE exam, if it is 3 months to 1 year then, you can definitely opt for this option. However, if you want to complete this course within 1 month time, then please buy the CFE Exam Prep Course. The downside of this is that this prep course is expensive. It costs about $800. You may have a question that the CFE Exam Prep course will just help me to pass, what about learning about ideas and concepts. Well you are right but if you are from accounting or risk management background, you would have been familiar with these topics already so it will just repetition only.

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  1. Using CFE Exam Prep Course

There are various ways to use the prep course. One individual might want to review all the questions and answer in the prep course. Then, they revisit the question that they have marked for review or answered incorrectly.

Pass CFE examAnother technique maybe is to copy every question/keywords and answer from a prep course into a word file. This method is preferable for some technical sections like Law. There are actually 4 sections: Financial Transaction and Fraud Schemes, Law, Fraud Prevention and  Deterrence,  and, Investigation for which you have to take the exam separately. When you apply this technique, then you will have an overall overview of the section. You can connect the dots, that is you will able to know how one question is related to another. This will help to clarify the concepts. So, how about testing yourself, for preparedness for the CFE exam. Download our  Mobile App here, it will test you with exam similar questions and provide you with an explanation for the wrong answer. Also, it comes with a lot of other useful features to help you in the journey of acing the CFE exam.

  1.   Money-back pass guarantee

As per ACFE, you need to fulfill the following conditions in order to qualify for a money-back pass guarantee:

  •   You must complete the CFE Exam Prep Course within one year from the purchase date.
  •   You must take the CFE Exam within 90 days of completing the CFE Exam Prep Course. Your completion date is recorded automatically by the software on the day of the last completed section.
  •   You must correctly answer all questions in the CFE Exam Prep Course database at least once. If you incorrectly answer a question, it will return to the question pool and you will be asked the question again at a future time.
  •   Your score must be above 85% for each module as per ACFE. If you request your exam activation key before completing the CFE Exam Prep Course, you waive your Money Back Pass Guarantee.
  •   Should you waive your Money Back Pass Guarantee and wish to earn 35 credits of CPE for completing the CFE Exam Prep Course, you will need to answer all questions correctly at least once and score at least an 85 percent on each practice exam section.

Therefore, please make sure you qualify for this Money-Back Pass Guarantee before attempting the exam so that you will save $25 while taking the exam. But not to worry, CFE is not difficult to pass, if your score is above 80%, you can easily pass the exam in flying colors. Also, there is a checklist in the prep course which will automatically tell you whether you are qualified for Money Back Pass Guarantee or not.

Know About Different Fraud Scams: Old Ones and New Ones !!!

  1.   Scan through Fraud Examiners Manual.

After you have reached the review phase, it is highly recommended that you scan through fraud examiner manual once. You don’t need to go into detail, just skim and scan. The benefit is that you are already familiar with most of the concepts, so, when you go through the examiner manual, you will understand how those concepts are linked with one another. Your goal should not be only to pass the exam but to learn the core fundamentals provided by this certification.

  1.   Exam Technique

The 2 hours is quite long for 100 questions. In our experience, individuals who have prepared adequately can finish the exam within half an hour. Every question is, given 75 sec and if you are not able to answer the question at that time, the question will be locked and it will be treated as unanswered. So, time is the essence. Further, sometimes the answer is at first multiple answers so you don’t need to go through all answer choices. Again, it is recommended to understand both question and answer, reading out loud will help you to speed up this process. You must score at least 75 percent correct on each section of the CFE Exam.You will receive notification of your exam results via email within 3-5 business days that is either you have passed or failed.

7. One Interesting Note

It is rightly said,’ How much you can learn from TV’. So, if the theory bores you, you may want to watch episodes of American Greed. These TV shows give you the different types of incidents of fraud like wire fraud, real estate scam, get-rich-quick scam, elderly fraud, health fraud, identity theft. The TV shows are presented in the documentary-style showing how the perpetrator started scam, how they become successful, how were they caught. So you can learn about different aspects of Certified Fraud Examiner with these TV shows.

Ready to Test Your Fraud Examiner Skills? Play This Puzzle Game.

 

8.  Affidavits

After you have completed the exam, you have to submit the affidavit which is a kind of self-declaration that you have completed the exam on your own and you have not created by using any materials or taken help from anyone. It needs to be signed by you and a witness that may be your colleague or senior. However, it does not mean that your colleague or senior must be acting as an invigilator while you are taking the exam. After the exam, you can ask them to fill the affidavit for you. Also make sure the date in an affidavit should not be prior to taking the exam and also you need to submit only one affidavit for the whole exam of whole sections, not four affidavits for each section.

9. AND one Last Thing:

It is usually trending, people who go for Certified Fraud Exam also want to Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Exam. If you are already in the Financial Sector, you may know that there is a growing demand for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing Experts. Therefore, adding this extra certification along with CFE can boost your career immensely. Why don’t you go to this article here to give it a second thought?

This is all to this exam. If you have any queries, please let us know. Also, best of luck to those who are attempting this exam.

Please share this article if you have found it useful.

3 Secrets Tips and 8 Proven Ways of Passing CAMS Certified Anti Money Laundering Exam(CAMS) Exam!!!

[pullquote]Internationally renowned and accepted, world governments acknowledge the CAMS certification as the gold standard in AML/CTF compliance.                         – ACAMS[/pullquote]

Are you gearing up for the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) exam? Achieving CAMS certification from the Association of Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) is a significant milestone in the world of financial crime prevention.

The Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) certification is a highly sought-after course to kickstart or advance your career in the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing sector. If you’re still debating whether CAMS is worth it, the answer is a resounding yes, especially if you’re aiming for a lucrative and respected career as an Anti-Money Laundering Professional. In today’s landscape, regulatory bodies worldwide emphasize anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism measures, recognizing the importance of disrupting the flow of illegal money to combat criminal activities effectively.

This designation has weight my friend that is going to increase your professional reputation as well as the size of the wallet. CAMS exam is quite a tough nut to crack. But with proper guidance, you can easily pass this exam with flying colors.  

1. How to Register for CAMS Exam(SECRET TIP!!!)

This looks obvious , just to this site here. They will set you up. Well, that’s one way to go but we have one tip. In a minute, you will feel fortunate that you have found this article. Let us share you a tip, before doing anything, just download CAMS Candidate Handbook from there official website here.

Candidate Handbook contains a lot of information, including syllabus, exam format, exam locations, re-exam and so on. After you have gone through handbook and understood its contend, DON’T JUMP TO PURCHASE CERTIFICATION, YET. Instead, email to their contact id: certification@acams.org. But be sure to check their email id in handbook, as it tends to change. In your email, tell them you are interested in taking cams exam. After that, they will assign you representative who will give you a call, you can ask him/her for a discount. More likely they will give you discount, if you are paying from your own pocket. This will save you quite deal of money rather just paying directly through website.

 

2. Understanding Objective of CAMS Certification:

Many Candidate usually jump immediately towards devouring the CAMS study guide and other reference materials after they registered for CAMS exam without first understanding what CAMS degree is all about. Your objective should not be only to PASS CAMS exam. You need to understand the CAMS Study Guide gives you mere information only or just concepts. For e.g., It says that you need to do risk assessment and have policies and procedures in your organization. In order to pass this exam, this concepts may be enough but not in your job situation. Let’s say if you pass this exam but do not know how to design ECDD form for high risk customers or you are unable to  proper tune transaction monitoring to identify suspicious transaction in your job environment then , well that just leave a bad taste in your mouth.

So you have to understand this, CAMS certification is does not make you ultimate AML/CFT professional. This is just beginning of your AML/CFT career. Even ACAMS promotes CAMS as basic course in Anti-Money laundering. So mere passing this certificate should not be your goal.  We have found that many candidate purchase CAMS dump to practice as many question related to CAMS exam, just to pass this certification. So, do you think, did they really earned this certification. Therefore, when you study the CAMS study guide, you need to be able to relate concepts in CAMS study guide in your day-to-day job. You need perform gap analysis and think how these concepts can truly help to improve AML/CFT posture of your organization.

We have created comprehensive course Ultimate Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist(CAMS) Preparation Zero To Hero Course which not only helps you to pass CAMS exam but also guide you to become better AML/CFT expert. We have explained concepts with practical example so that you could know how these ideas are applied in real life. You don’t find them in your CAMS Study Guide. Take a moment to explore our website and unlock a world of valuable information and opportunities – don’t miss out!

 

 

“Discover the inspiring journey of a determined candidate who, despite facing multiple setbacks, finally achieved her dream of passing the CAMS exam.”

 

3. Create Study Plan:

Whenever you are studying difficult certification like CAMS exam, it is better you laid out down study plan. You need to first determine when you are planning to take exam. Still NOT Sure? After going through rest of this article, you will be.

First determine, how much time you are willing to set aside for the study. Consider following things for crafting study plan.

  1. It is not matter of quantity but quality. Studying 1 hour a day with full focus is better than 2 hours with distraction.
  2. Maintain consistency, whatever, you do unless it is an emergency, find time to study. Even if it is only 15 minutes a day, try to study. Consistency will bring discipline. If there has been long time since you study for any kind of exam, this will bring you in a track, slowly and comfortably. We want you to keep this pace even after passing cams exam. When you want to have career in AML/CFT, always remember, you need to learn every day because criminal don’t sleep they are always looking for new ways for money laundering and terrorism financing. Therefore, you need to continuously update yourself.
  3. Put away mobile phone, unless you are studying from it.
  4. Take frequent break, you don’t need to study until your head hurts. Take five minutes break after every 20 minutes. Go listen to music, drink water or your preferred beverage and have fun. We will even go far and suggest you that. Before, 1 day of exam, after you have reviewed and are well prepare, you can watch a heartwarming movie or do any activities that you like. This will relax your nerves. But, remember, we only recommend this, if you have maintain disciple and followed your study plan by heart.

You can look as this excellent website to create a study plan for yourself.

 

Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid While Preparing for CAMS Exam

How to Answer Questions in CAMS Exam with High Accuracy? 

 

4. Resources:

After the registration, ACAMS will provide you with an ACAMS Training portal, where you will receive all the materials necessary to pass the exam. You will receive, CAMS study guides in pdf and audio format, flashcards, a summary module for each chapter of CAMS. But, how to use them is an art. One method is to just scan through the whole study guide once. Then, revisit the study guide again, this time listening audit format simultaneously. It is well known from scientific research that when you can use more senses while learning, we can understand and retain that knowledge better. For the above case, if you also take notes while studying the guide as well as listening, you are using all your three senses: Visual, Auditory, Feeling. Now, talking about Flashcards and summary module, we suggest you use them at the time of review only.

 

CAMS Study guide or manual covers generic information and in a very concise. You will not pass only depending upon CAMS study , you need to reference other materials. Besides the study guide, it is highly recommended that you go through FATF recommendation and Wolfsberg Principles as listed in chapter : International AML/CFT standards of the CAMS Study Guide. This is because most of the content in the CAMS study guide is derived from these standards and principles.. AML/CFT is a very vast concept and referring only to the study guide may not be enough to clarify all the ideas mentioned in the guide. Moreover, you may want to go through Egmont Group Financial Analysis Cases, this will prepare you for the scenario-based questions that are usually asked in the CAMS study guide. In our Ultimate Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist(CAMS) Preparation Zero To Hero Course

In our CAMS preparation course , we provide you with just enough resources that is need for your cams exam. If you look at “Guidance document and reference materials” in CAMS Study Guide, you will get the list of resources to prepare for your cams exam. To speak truth, all is not required, and it not possible to go through all resources, if you have only few months to prepare. So we have handpicked only those resources that are useful for your cams exam, also in some pdf we have highlighted important content, so that you can focus on them, which will save your time. Also you will get concise notes for FATF 40 recommendation in .docx format so that you don’t have to go through all those 140 pages of FATF. We also separate free course on FATF recommendation in our www.learnwithsiorik.com website, which you may want to check out.

There is MORE!!!. You will also get hyperlink for the website, where you can download those resource, if you want your own copy.

resources for cams exam
FREE resources for CAMS EXAM with purchase of CAMS Preparation Course

Notes for FATF
Notes on FATF in word file

 ACAMS provides various resources, including webinars, seminars, and networking opportunities. Engage with these resources to gain insights from industry experts and fellow professionals.

It is also better if you are update with recent trend Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing. We have create Crime Watch page which provides with highlight of Money laundering and Terrorism Financing news happening from all around, abstracted from more than 100 famous  news channel like CNN, BBC, Economic Times and so on.

Who said preparing for CAMS exam cannot be fun. You can also watch following movies, documentaries and TV series, if you want to see exaggerated cases of Money Laundering and Terrorism financing.

  1. Cocaine Cowboys(Documentary)
  2. American Greed(TV series)
  3. Infiltrator
  4. Breaking Bad(TV series)
  5. Ozark (TV series)

 

 

5.Time for Preparation

We are not going to lie that CAMS is easy. You will fail if you are not adequately prepared. We have found many people have not succeeded in their first attempt when they have ventured this exam on the basis of their job experience and mere luck. Therefore, we suggest you give this ample time, at least 3 months ahead of the appearance exam, you may want to go through all the resources we have suggested above. The rest is up to you.

 6.The Clarity in Concept:

About 90% of question is scenario-based, like what two things you will do when you are faced with this situation or that. Therefore, gaining knowledge about the different concepts is not only sufficient, but you should know how to apply it. Therefore, you should understand all the material concepts of the study guide. Repetition is the key here.

7.Notes preparing for Memorization

Everybody has their own style of learning. In whatever case, the essence of note-taking could not be disregarded. It is better to prepare a note of each topic in soft copy like in word file rather than in hard copy which will provide you with benefits of portability. CAMS exam is both memorization and application of the concept. Therefore, early note taking activity will help you in the long run. You can also use Flashcards provide by CAMS but it’s in question and answer format but will not substitute, comprehensive notes. Also, we have create CAMS STUDY NOTES that you get FREE with the purchase of our  CAMS preparation course .  The main feature of these notes are , they not only simplify and contain important content of CAMS Study Guide, but they also include other reference materials. Further, there are word format, which means you can customize these study notes as you desire.

8.Mind Map.

To help you with memorization, you don’t need to rot down everything. It is also very easy to lose focus while going through study guide, as lot of concepts are presented in very concise way. It is utmost necessary that you revisit the concepts again and again until you are clear.

Another best way of understanding and memorizing is use of Mind Map.

A mind map is a visual representation of ideas, concepts, and information organized around a central theme or topic. It is a graphical tool that helps individuals brainstorm, structure, and organize their thoughts in a more holistic and interconnected way. The central idea is typically placed in the center of the map, and branches radiate outward to represent related subtopics or concepts.

Key elements of a mind map include:

Central Theme or Topic: The main concept or idea that the mind map revolves around is placed in the center of the page.

Branches: Radiating out from the central theme are branches that represent main categories or major concepts related to the central idea.

Nodes or Sub-branches: Each branch can have sub-branches that further break down the main categories into more specific details or subtopics.

Keywords and Images: Mind maps often use keywords or short phrases to convey information concisely. Additionally, images or symbols may be used to enhance understanding and memory.

Color Coding: Colors can be used to distinguish between different branches or to highlight important information, making the mind map visually engaging and aiding in recall.

 

This will really interlink the concept. We suggest you take a big white chart paper, the write concepts in two or three word, then circle it, it will become a node and link with other concepts(Branches) as you come across, with different color. As an example, please look at the following Ted Talk on creating Mind Map.

The main benefit, whenever you will look at them, you will able comprehend all the concepts simultaneously and if you find any idea confusion, you can revisit them later.

9. Exam Format and Exam Technique:

Everything said above, boils down to only one thing, how to pass or get a higher score in the CAMS exam. You will have 4 hours to solve the 120 questions which are more than enough. You need to answer 75 questions correctly out of 120 questions to pass CAMS. So, it is not 75%, but 75 right answered questions. In percentage, it will come about 62.5% only. 

9.1 Multiple choice questions

You will get multiple choice question, but it is not like you need select one out of four. Often there will be 5 or 6 multiple choice questions, where you need to select 2 or 3. CAMS exam questions can be quite lengthy you need to read and comprehend. In some cases, answers in the questions itself, so you need to understand the question.

9.2 Best way to deal with multiple choice question
A. Bad Technique

CAMS exam is tricky most of the time as almost all multiple choice answers look valid. One technique is that you go through once the question and its multiple choice answers and then again re-read the question thoroughly to select the right answer. People usually miss the right answer when they read the question only once.

B. Good Technique (SECRET TIP!!!)

Do you know that you will get “Marked for Review” option in exam portal. DO, DO, DO use this if you find difficult or long answer question. Let me give you reason why?

This is general nature, the people are usually nervous while taking exam. So, it is better you answer first the questions that you find easy to answer and attempt other long and confusing question later. This will boost your confidence and you can tackled those difficult question later on. Therefore, when you use “Mark for Review” option, you can revisit those question later on

C. Master any Scenario Based Question (SECRET TIP!!!)

Would you like to know secret to ace any Multiple Choice question? Of course you do. So, let us share this with you.  For a straight forward question like one line question, you just read the question, then options and select suitable answer. This is far efficient way.

Now for the secret technique. We will give you a chance to practice this yourself.

Let’s look at the following example and try to answer the question and not how much time did it

  1. Ramesh is the AML compliance officer for a small bank that has had AML difficulties and that is operating under a deferred prosecution agreement with the federal government. The FBI approaches Rick and requests that the bank maintain an account that the FBI is examining so that the FBI can monitor continuing activity. What two things should Rick do first?
  2. Ask that request be submitted in writing.
  3. Ensure that the request is from someone with appropriate authority.
  4. Ask the Board of Directors to approve keeping the account open after an internal investigation.
  5. Keep the account open in order to not incur any further disfavor with the federal government.

 

So, how well you did it. Do you have your time recorded? Good. Now follow along,

Now let’s us revisit above question, we would like you to focus on the end of the question. That is to say, what question is actually asking. Plainly speaking, focus on WH question (What, When, Where, How, Whom). In above question, it was “What two things should Rick do first?”. So the question is asking what two action Rick needs to take immediately. This is the actual question. All the paragraph above that question is context. It is asking what two actions Rick needs to take immediately, if such situation happens, that if FBI comes knocking at your office door and ask you about any account that they are examining. Caution, here answers are designed to confusion, if you look at them all answer are correct but clue lies with the word “first”. In CAMS exam, answer will be designed in a way to confuse you. Therefore, aim to understand the context question and choose the right answer. So always read the question more than one time, so to understand it properly.

 We hope, you have understood this concept, now try answering following question.  

2. Diane, the AML compliance officer for a large financial institution, uncovers a serious case of potential money laundering being conducting through a number of related accounts. What are three factors she should consider in deciding whether or not to close the accounts?

A.Whether the account holder is a close associate of any of the members of the Board of Directors.

B. Whether the alleged money laundering activity is occurring in all of the accounts, or just some of the accounts.

C.The legal basis for closing the accounts.

D.The reputational risk to the institution if the accounts are maintained

We hope you are now, proud of yourself. We don’t think you need correct answers to above questions, but here they are incase you are wondering.

1. Question: A, B

2. Question: B,C,D

10. One Final Secret Tip !!!

There is Tibetan Proverb, “Empty your cup”. Let us clarify this quote, in context of your exam, in scenario based question, you have limit yourself to the context and thing that you learn from case study guide.Don’t assume or add or subtract to that context. Let’s illustrate this with an example. In the Question 1, let’s assume that you had faced similar situation in your real life and your board actually instructed you to do the first job of keep that account open first, before doing any other things. May be they don’t want to upset regulator bodies. But, if you select that option, you will be wrong.

So, try to understand the context of the question, be present in that moment and answer the question. If you follow this secret Mantra, you will not only pass CAMS exam , you might be in path towards enlightenment.

For e.g.,

In our Ultimate Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist(CAMS) Preparation Zero To Hero Course  We provide you with 360 mock question for practice. We can hone your new found skill over there.

Quiz Set
FREE MOCK QUESTION with purchase of CAMS Preparation Course

Mock Test
Exam SImulator

11. Practice Question:

There is no need to stress the importance of the mock test.  It is advised that before,  going through the study guide, you first attempt the mock test on chapter 6  to assess your current level of understanding about a different aspect of anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing. Then, after completing your study guide, at the time of the review phase, re-do the mock test. This is from the experience of  many candidates that what marks you are scoring in the Mock test at the review phase, you will be the scoring if not equivalent but more in your actual CAMS exam.

Remember, there are many candidates who purchase CAMS dump question online, only study that and attempt exam. The success guarantee is 50% . But one thing we will guarantee, you won’t be good AML/CFT expert by doing so. Your goal should not be merely passing CAMS exam but higher. So focus on understanding concept and try to interlink them. The questions are asked in CAMS by mixing various concepts in different chapter. It’s like if you are skilled in driving, nature and type of road won’t matter. You can drive in any road conditions. Similarly, we also provide you with 360 mock question completely FREE with the purchase of our CAMS Preparation course. All questions are designed to test your understanding in deeper level.

Embark on your journey to become a skilled AML/CFT professional, and pass the CAMS exam with our engaging and informative CAMS exam preparation course where we have used animation, shared stories, demonstrated practical tools which not only help you understand CAMS concept but equip necessary talents to make you AML/CFT expert.  Visit our website and discover a wealth of resources – don’t miss out on this opportunity! 

WE FEEL PROUD OF THOSE INDIVIDUAL WHO HAVE TAKEN OUR COURSE AND ACHIEVED CAMS CERTIFICATION.HATS OF TOO THEM FOR THEIR DEDICATION,HARD EFFORT AND STRONG WILL. WE HOPE THEM ALL THE BEST FOR THEIR FUTURE ENDEAVORS!!!.

   

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About Author
Kiran Kumar ShahLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirankumarshah/

 

[stextbox id=’alert’] WE ARE PLEASEd TO INFORM YOU THAT, WE HAVE COMPLETED ARTICLE SERIES AND YOUTUBE SERIES OF OVERVIEW OF ALL CHAPTERS OF CAMS STUDY GUIDE. THEY CAN BE ACCESSED BY CLICKING FOLLOWING LINKS.[/stextbox]

Chapter 1: Risks and Methods of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Chapter 2 : International AML/CFT Standards

Chapter 3: Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing Compliance Programs

Chapter 4: Conducting and Responding to Investigations

 

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UNDERSTANDING GoAML!!!