CAFCA study plan
CAFCA · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Anti-Money Laundering
Map the three stages of money laundering to at least eight concrete red-flag indicators you write in your own words
Draft a risk-based customer due diligence decision tree covering beneficial ownership, politically exposed persons, and high-risk jurisdictions
Explain aloud, without notes, the core pillars of an AML program and how each pillar is independently tested by a regulator or auditor
Build 40 flashcards covering AML terminology, KYC documentation standards, and recordkeeping expectations
Your checkpoint
A one-page CDD/EDD decision tree plus 10 self-written customer scenarios each correctly classified as simplified, standard, or enhanced due diligence with a one-line justification.
Anti-Money Laundering & Sanctions Compliance
Contrast customer due diligence with sanctions screening by listing three differences in timing, scope, and legal consequence
Classify 15 ownership structures as sanctioned-party exposure or no exposure, documenting the reasoning for each
Write a five-step triage procedure for transaction-monitoring alerts that states who acts, on what trigger, and within what timeframe
Complete 40 practice questions on AML and log every error by root cause rather than by topic
Your checkpoint
An error log covering at least 40 attempted questions plus a written summary of your top three recurring error patterns and the corrective action for each.
Sanctions Compliance
Describe the major sanctions lists, who publishes each, and the type of party or activity each list targets
Build an end-to-end screening workflow covering name matching, false-positive disposition, escalation, and blocking versus rejecting a transaction
Analyze 10 ownership-and-control scenarios against the 50 percent rule and reach a documented conclusion for each
Draft one escalation memo for a true match and one for a false positive, showing the evidence relied on
Your checkpoint
A 10-scenario sanctions ownership worksheet with defensible conclusions plus one mock escalation memo that a reviewer could approve without further questions.
Fraud Management
Categorize at least 10 fraud typologies and match each to specific internal and external red flags
Build a fraud risk assessment across five business lines, rating inherent risk and control effectiveness
Compare rules-based detection with analytical detection and identify the blind spot of each
Complete 40 fraud practice questions and log errors by root cause
Your checkpoint
A fraud risk matrix covering five business lines against 10 typologies with inherent-risk and control ratings, plus an updated error log.
Fraud Management & Investigations and Reporting
Outline the full investigation lifecycle from alert generation through case closure, naming the decision point at each stage
Document evidence-handling steps for three distinct evidence types, including chain-of-custody considerations
Write interview question sets for one witness and one subject in a suspected fraud case
Identify the internal escalation triggers and external reporting thresholds that apply to a fraud fact pattern
Your checkpoint
A complete mock case file for one fraud scenario containing a timeline, evidence log, subject and witness question sets, and a recommendation memo.
Investigations and Reporting
Write a suspicious activity report narrative from a fact pattern using the who, what, when, where, why, and how structure
State the do's and don'ts of confidentiality and tipping-off obligations in your own words
Describe recordkeeping, retention, and follow-up obligations that survive after a report is filed
Draft a one-page internal closing report for a case that was investigated and resulted in no filing
Your checkpoint
Two final suspicious activity report narratives, one fraud-based and one laundering-based, each scored against a self-built 10-point rubric at 8/10 or higher.
Anti-Money Laundering & Fraud Management & Sanctions Compliance & Investigations and Reporting
Work six cross-domain cases and correctly identify which domain governs each individual decision point
Build a one-page master map linking AML triggers, fraud indicators, sanctions hits, and reporting obligations
Retest every question missed in weeks one through six until each is answered correctly twice
Rewrite each failed rule in your own words on a single weak-spot sheet
Your checkpoint
A cross-domain decision map plus a fully closed-out error log showing zero unresolved items carried into the final week.
Anti-Money Laundering & Fraud Management & Sanctions Compliance & Investigations and Reporting
Complete two full-length timed mock exams under exam conditions with no notes or interruptions
Trace each incorrect answer to its root cause and rewrite the underlying rule in your own words
Recite key definitions, thresholds, and reporting timeframes from memory using the week-one and week-six flashcards
Rank your remaining weak areas and drill only those for the final three days
Your checkpoint
Two completed mock exams with a score of 80 percent or higher on the second attempt and a final one-page weak-spot sheet listing each remaining gap with a fix.
Milestones
Week 2: Score at least 70 percent on a 25-question self-made AML and sanctions quiz, and show an error log where no single root cause accounts for more than a third of misses.
Week 4: Score at least 75 percent on a 40-question mixed self-test across AML, sanctions, and fraud, with fewer than five repeat errors of the same type in the log.
Week 6: Produce two suspicious activity report narratives that each score 8/10 or higher against your rubric, with no missing element of who, what, when, where, why, or how.
Week 8: Score 80 percent or higher on the second full-length timed mock exam and present a weak-spot sheet with every item resolved or explicitly scheduled for final review.