Your Anti-Money Laundering Career
If you have decided to start your career, or are looking to advance your career, in the field of anti-money laundering, you have come to the right place.
Careers in anti-money laundering are in high demand right now, especially in the private sector. Government regulations and scrutiny continue to increase with no signs of slowing down. This has put increased pressure on financial institutions to bolster their AML compliance departments.
There has been no better time to start or advance your career in the field of anti-money laundering. This site will provide you with everything you need to know about the business of money laundering, career options and paths, AML education and training, and so much more.
Click through the various pages to explore the exciting world of anti-money laundering.
Also, be sure to check out the AML Blog to get the latest anti-money laundering news and insights.
What is Money Laundering?
Simply put, money laundering is the process of turning funds derived from criminal activities (dirty money) into funds that appear to be from a legitimate source (clean money). The process is typically done in three phases: placement; layering; and integration. This is done to disguise the true source of the money. Below is an example of a typical money laundering scheme:
What is the Financing of Terrorism?
Terrorist financing is basically the opposite of money laundering; however, the effects can be much more devastating. While money laundering attempts to make dirty money clean, terrorist financing attempts to make clean money dirty. Specifically, funds that are derived from legitimate means are filtered through financial institutions and individuals in an effort to ultimately fund organizations that support terrorism. This process typically involves transferring funds overseas through charitable organizations and/or a series of transfers between many individuals to avoid detection and sanctions violations.
What is Anti-Money Laundering?
Anti-money laundering is the process of identifying, preventing, and reporting any activities related to money laundering or the financing of terrorism. As previously stated, money laundering begins with dirty money. What type of criminal activity makes money dirty? All criminal activity!
As an anti-money laundering professional, you will encounter a vast array of different types of criminal activity. Some of the most significant types are: human trafficking; drug trafficking; embezzlement; corruption; arms trafficking; theft; tax evasion; terrorism; and grey market activity, among others.
Despite what many may think, some criminals can be quite smart and hard to detect. They have devised complex methods for moving money that can be difficult to identify, and it is constantly changing and evolving. And they are usually not who you would suspect. Individuals involved in financial crimes are typically not what you would expect. They don’t fit into any one profile or classification…they might be your friend or your neighbor, and you might never suspect a thing.
When it comes to anti-money laundering, you discover criminal activity by pouring through data and conducting research. You very rarely get to put a name with a face. Most often, you are discovering a crime before law enforcement even knows a crime has been committed.
The various financial products on the market today only make identifying illegal activity more difficult. And things aren’t getting any easier, especially with somewhat newer products such as pre-paid cards and personal payment processors such as PayPal and Square.
The AML field is never stagnant and must constantly evolve to learn new money laundering methods. Unfortunately, the compliance departments at financial institutions are always one step behind. It’s the nature of the business, but it will always make your AML job interesting and secure.
