ACAMS Updated CAMS Exam Questions and Answers by renzo

The FATF is an inter-governmental body that sets standards and promotes effective implementation of legal, regulatory, and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. The FATF conducts mutual evaluations of its members and other jurisdictions to assess their compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the effectiveness of their AML/CFT regimes1.

The FATF defines effectiveness as "the extent to which a country’s AML/CFT regime is achieving the defined outcomes of an effective regime that allows them to mitigate their risks and threats of ML/TF"2. The FATF assesses effectiveness based on 11 immediate outcomes, which are grouped into three thematic goals: financial system integrity, legal system and operational issues, and international cooperation2.

One of the immediate outcomes under the financial system integrity goal is that “FIs adequately apply preventive measures commensurate with their risks, and report suspicious transactions” (IO.4)2. This outcome measures how well FIs implement the FATF Recommendations on customer due diligence, record-keeping, internal controls, risk assessment, and suspicious transaction reporting. These preventive measures are essential for FIs to identify and mitigate the risks of being misused for money laundering or terrorist financing, and to provide useful information to the authorities for investigation and prosecution2.

Therefore, the correct answer is D. FIs adequately apply preventive measures, as this is one of the FATF characteristics used to assess a country’s effectiveness of its AML regime.

References:

FATF Methodology for assessing compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the effectiveness of AML/CFT systems

An effective system to combat money laundering and terrorist financing

According to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a country's financial intelligence unit (FIU) plays a key role in safeguarding against money laundering and terrorist financing. One of the main functions of an FIU is to receive, analyze, and disseminate suspicious activity reports (SARs) submitted by financial institutions and other obligated entities. By analyzing SARs, an FIU can identify trends, patterns, and other intelligence related to money laundering and terrorist financing, which can assist in the pursuit of criminal activity. While an FIU may also generate currency transaction reports (CTRs) or other types of financial reports, these functions are not specific to safeguarding against money laundering and terrorist financing. Similarly, while monitoring monthly public statistics on the economy may be an important aspect of macroeconomic analysis, it is not a specific role of an FIU in safeguarding against money laundering and terrorist financing.

 Predicate offenses are the criminal activities that generate the proceeds that are later laundered through money laundering schemes. A country that does not have strong predicate offenses and is lax in prosecuting AML cases could suffer from increased organized crime and corruption, as criminals would have more opportunities and incentives to engage in illicit activities and evade detection and punishment. Organized crime and corruption can have serious social and economic consequences for a country, such as undermining the rule of law, eroding public trust, threatening national security, harming human rights, reducing economic growth, and distorting market competition123.

References:

CAMS Certification Package - 6th Edition | ACAMS

Understanding Predicate Offences: The Hidden Web of Money Laundering

Predicate Offenses In Money Laundering - Financial Crime Academy

AML Terms Easily Confused: Predicate Offense vs. Money Laundering

According to the USA PATRIOT Act, US authorities do have the power to subpoena records from foreign banks that maintain correspondent accounts with US banks. This is known as a "section 314(a) request," which allows law enforcement to obtain information related to suspected terrorist financing or money laundering.

However, US authorities are not limited to seizing only funds transferred under OFAC sanctions if there is an equivalent UN sanctions regime that has been contravened. The US government can impose its own sanctions that are independent of the UN, and can seize funds or take other actions to enforce those sanctions.

Therefore, the correct answers to the question are A and C:

A. If the funds are seized, then the foreign bank would be within its rights to dispute such seizure. C. The USA PATRIOT Act authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury or the Attorney General to subpoena records from the foreign bank that maintains a correspondent account with a US bank.