CAMS case studies
CAMS · Put your knowledge to work in context.
CAMS - the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist credential - is a professional certification for people whose work touches financial crime compliance: AML analysts and investigators, compliance and risk officers, internal auditors, consultants, and staff in banking, payments, fintech, insurance and securities. Regulators, law enforcement personnel and lawyers also take it to gain a working vocabulary for how institutions detect, escalate and report suspicious activity. The CAMS case studies are 5 cases and about 4,599 words.
1The Agent Network Blind Spot: Cash-Intensive Corridor Under Pressure
A mid-sized money remittance company operates 1,150 agents across three states. Analytics show that 7% of agents originate 64% of all cash-in volume, and those agents cluster in two immigrant-heavy ZIP codes.
864 words, about 4 min2Enforcement Action at a Community Bank: Sequencing Remediation on a Fixed Budget
A $2.1 billion community bank received its first formal enforcement action after an examination found: independent testing was last performed 31 months ago and covered only the wire room; the BSA officer also serves as the bank's CFO and as the liaison to internal audit; training is a 20-minute video assigned annually with a 78% completion rate; and roughly 1,900 alerts from the past two quarters remain unworked. The bank files about 40 SARs a year.
868 words, about 4 min3The Teacher, the Board Member, and the Request to Close the Alert
During alert review, an analyst examines a 34-year-old high school teacher whose account is 14 months old and receives monthly salary deposits of 3,900. Over eight weeks she deposited 61,000 in cash at four different branches, in amounts ranging from 6,000 to 9,800.
959 words, about 5 min4Correspondent Account, Nested Flows, and a Foreign Supervisor's Request
bank maintains a correspondent account for a foreign bank in a jurisdiction with a satisfactory FATF posture but weak beneficial-ownership transparency. The respondent uses the account to clear USD payments for its own customers, including several introducing brokers that place funds on behalf of underlying clients.
939 words, about 5 min5Over-Invoiced Electronics, a Phantom Vessel, and a Request for a New Letter of Credit
A commodity trading company has banked with the same institution for six years, with revenue around $80 million, importing consumer electronics from three suppliers located in a single free trade zone. Over the past two quarters the trade finance desk has noticed: unit prices on commercial invoices run 40 to 60 percent above the pre-shipment price list for identical model numbers; bills of lading show the same vessel name on voyages that overlap in time; one supplier was incorporated 11 months ago and shares a registered address with two other suppliers used by the company; and several payments arrived from a third-party account held in a different country.
969 words, about 5 min