By now, everyone in the financial services industry should be familiar with what an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Compliance Program is and its purpose. There is one very important aspect of an AML compliance program that is often overlooked, which is implementing an ongoing training program for any and all employees conducting money service transactions in your business.

Having a thorough and efficient training program is one of the most important aspects for a money services business (MSB) to stay in compliance and mitigate fraud. A sufficient training program not only enables proper required education throughout your business, but it also ensures that compliance becomes a standard in your operation.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) requires, as one of the pillars of an Anti-Money Laundering Program, to “provide education and training of appropriate personnel concerning their responsibilities under the program, including training in the detection of suspicious transactions to the extent that the money services business is required to report such transactions under the BSA.”

Your training program should include everything from how to identify suspicious activity, understanding specific thresholds for additional reporting depending on services, anti-money laundering basics, key terms applicable to your industry, penalties of noncompliance, etc.

For larger or multi-store operations, it’s imperative that you have an automated system for training, as it becomes very difficult to manage tens, if not hundreds, of employees.

In addition, when it comes time for your annual Third Party Independent Review, you will be required to show proof that within the last 12 months, your staff has taken the appropriate training based on their MSB responsibilities. This is one of the many reasons why adopting an automated online training platform is a must for compliance.

Here are some features to keep in mind when searching for an effective training platform and content provider:

• Custom, up-to-date training content, with a relevant library of courses
• Bulk enrollment capability
• Automated enrollment and completion email notifications
• Individual user activity tracking
• Automated and custom reporting
• Pass/fail thresholds
• Easy to reach customer service team

Those are some of the many features that any sufficient training platform should have. This will ensure that your training program meets industry standards and saves you both time and money.

Learn more about the Capital Compliance Experts employee training options through the On POinT Training Center.