CAFCA study guide
CAFCA · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Anti-Financial Crime Analyst (CAFCA) is a professional credential in the anti-financial crime field, listed on this study platform under the short alias CAFCA and associated with Financial Crime Academy, the provider whose site hosts the certification catalogue. It is designed for people who do analytical work rather than purely policy work: transaction monitoring analysts, KYC and CDD reviewers, fraud investigators, sanctions screening specialists, and compliance staff who want a structured, exam-tested demonstration of technical competence. The syllabus, as tracked here, is organised into four equally weighted domains: anti-money laundering, fraud management, sanctions compliance, and investigations and reporting. Preparation should follow that structure - build AML and KYC fundamentals first, then typologies and red flags in fraud, then sanctions screening and list mechanics, and finish with investigation workflow, case documentation, and reporting obligations, because the reporting domain draws on all three others. The CAFCA study guide has 4 sections and about 1,114 words.
01Anti-Money Laundering Fundamentals
Anti-money laundering work rests on three stages: placement (introducing illicit cash into the financial system), layering (obscuring its origin through transfers, entities, or trades), and integration (returning funds as apparently legitimate wealth). Candidates must know the risk-based approach: controls should be proportionate to customer, product, channel, geography, and delivery risk.
285 words, about 1 min02Fraud Management
Fraud is intentional deception for financial gain. The fraud triangle explains perpetrator behavior: pressure (financial or personal incentive), opportunity (weak controls), and rationalization (self-justification).
286 words, about 1 min03Sanctions Compliance
Sanctions are government restrictions on dealings with named persons, entities, sectors, or countries. Candidates must know the major regimes (UN, US OFAC, EU, UK OFSI) and the difference between primary sanctions and secondary sanctions, which can reach non-US persons for certain conduct.
273 words, about 1 min04Investigations and Reporting
An investigation converts an alert or referral into a documented, defensible conclusion. Understand the lifecycle: intake and triage (severity, deadlines, jurisdiction), scoping, evidence collection, analysis, escalation or closure, remediation, and quality assurance.
270 words, about 1 min