I am now a member (non-certifed) of ACAMS. If you have become certified, please let me know if it is of any extra benefit to attend a preparation seminar versus just ordering the study guide & then taking the exam.

Thanks !

I thought the prep seminar was good. They covered alot of what will be on the exam, the types of questions and study hints to help pass the exam. If you are good at reading comprehension, you could probably do fine by studying the exam guide.

I am sure you will get answers both ways, so it is really what is best for you.

Good Luck!

Big-Dog
CAMS

I took the prep seminar and did not find it very helpful, but that is just me, you may find great benefit from it. When you sign up for the exam they send you a study guide. Everything you need to pass is in the guide, but experience is a big plus.

I can only add confusion to this topic. I just read and studied on my own (there is a funny story associated with it). My co-workers, who will be taking the exam in December, attended the prep class and found it helpful. If your institution is willing to pay for the prep class, it couldn't hurt...

For those who have taken the exam...are the questions more international or U.S. oriented? I'm sure that there will be international banking questions asked but just wondering for a feeling on the content. I work for a small bank ($350M) and have tossed back and forth whether or not to become offically certified. I've been a non-certified member for the past 3 years. My location in the U.S. isn't really prone to international money laundering or much international activity for that matter and wondered about the orientation of the exam, whether primarily focused on U.S. AML, Internation AML or a mix. Thanks!

I'm not sure what you mean by U.S. vs international...but the questions fall into a couple of broad categories; principles, scenarios, and process.

If you understand the FATF 40 recommendations, the Wolfsberg principles and how to apply them, that's good. (As a side note, ACAMS has a very specific definition of the Black Market Peso Exchange, there are questions that hinge on *their* definition).

If you can work your way through the cases offered as scenarios, think them through carefully, you'll be alright.

Finally, many of the scenarios turn into questions on best-practice processes; what would you do if... sorts of things. Like any multiple choice tests, there are obviously wrong, though tempting answers, and a couple that are close. Think about best practices and the FATF 40 principles and pick the one that makes you think, "Sure, in a perfect I'd do...."

Scenario: Large amounts of cash are deposited to an account by a stream of small children. You:
A. Close the account, file a SAR, burn the house of the account-holder and salt the earth on which it stood.
B. Think its cute that Girl Scout cookie sales are apparently so popular.
C. Ask a few questions on your own about the account and its history, come to your own conclusion and drop the matter.
D. Refer the matter to your FIU with a description of the activity, some data on account transactional history, the account holder and why you thought it suspicious.

Stuff like that.

You should pass ACAMs if you read the manual -
Know the FATF 40 recommendations - plus the Special Recommendations -
Know Basel, Wolfsberg and Egmont -
Many of the questions are ML scenarios - they are all multiple choice.
Some will be simple - with the others, do a process of elimination and you should come up with the correct answer.
I did not find the prep very helpful.
Good luck.

Banker 1976, my bank does not do any international transactions and I was also worried about that part of the exam, but it was the section that I actually did the best on. Have no fear, study the guide, you should be fine.
CAMS certified and proud of it.

I recently attended the prep seminar. Even with all my examining experience, I found the seminar useful. They let you know what topics are more prevalent on the test than others. They also give you sample test questions, some of which are also in the study guide, but others aren't. So you get a few more sample questions, which gives you an idea of the structure of the test, if not an idea about areas you need to study if you don't already know the answers.

One observation about the seminar, as useful as I found it, is that it's a real challenge for the instructors to stay on point, which is about taking the CAMS test vs. turning the seminar into a how-to-do-BSA/AML seminar. Some attendees asked technical questions that got them off track at times.

That notwithstanding, I'd recommend the seminar. AR.

Off the track a bit but I am starting to hear alot about ACAM, can someone direct me to where I can find out about this organization