ICA TBML Specialist Cert study guide
ICA TBML Specialist Cert · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The ICA Specialist Certificate in Trade Based Money Laundering is a professional qualification offered by the International Compliance Association (ICA), an organisation whose qualifications span subject areas including Anti Money Laundering, Financial Crime Prevention and Customer Due Diligence/KYC. This specialist certificate is aimed at compliance, trade finance, banking operations and financial crime prevention professionals who need to recognise and mitigate the money-laundering risks inherent in trade transactions, documentary credits and cross-border goods flows. The ICA TBML Specialist Cert study guide has 4 sections and about 1,460 words.
01Trade Based Money Laundering: Mechanisms, Red Flags, and Typologies
Trade based money laundering moves value through the settlement of trade transactions rather than through the wires themselves. The defining feature is that the goods, the documents, or the declared prices are manipulated so that value transfers between parties who are often related or colluding.
406 words, about 2 min02Anti Money Laundering: The Framework, Stages, and Obligations
Placement (introducing illicit cash into the financial system), layering (obscuring origin through complex transactions), and integration (reintroducing funds as apparently legitimate). Questions often ask which stage a scenario represents; note that trade finance can serve all three, and layering is the most common in trade contexts.
331 words, about 2 min03Financial Crime Prevention: Sanctions, Fraud, and Control Design
Financial crime prevention covers sanctions and export controls, fraud (including trade and documentary fraud), bribery and corruption, and terrorist financing. TBML questions frequently overlap with sanctions: a transaction can be legitimate trade and still be prohibited because a party, vessel, port, or good is sanctioned.
344 words, about 2 min04Customer Due Diligence and KYC for Trade Customers
Identify the customer and verify identity using reliable, independent sources; identify the beneficial owner (typically the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a defined percentage, commonly 25% or more, or exercises control); understand the purpose and intended nature of the relationship; and conduct ongoing due diligence. Enhanced due diligence applies to higher-risk situations: PEPs, high-risk jurisdictions, complex ownership structures, and unusual trade profiles.
379 words, about 2 min