ACAMS Practice Exam ACTUAL
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
1. Which of the following is the most common method of laundering money through a legal money
services business?
A. Exchanging currency and remitting money
B. Smuggling bulk cash
C. Transferring funds through payable through accounts (PTAs)
D. Exchanging Colombian pesos on the black market - CORRECT ANSWER A. Exchanging
currency and remitting money
2. In general, the three phases of money laundering are said to be: placement and
A. structuring and manipulation.
B. layering and integration.
C. layering and smurfing.
D. integration and infiltration. - CORRECT ANSWER B. layering and integration.
3. Which statement is true?
A. Systemic weaknesses in free trade zones include inadequate AML/CFT safeguards, minimal
oversight by local authorities and weak procedures to inspect goods.
B. Cuckoo smurfing is a significant money laundering technique identified by the Financial Action
Task Force, wherein a form of structuring uses nested accounts with shell banks in secrecy havens.
C. In its 40 Recommendations, the FATF issued a list of designated categories of offense that asserts
crimes for a money laundering prosecution.
D. E-cash is not attractive to the money launderer because it cannot be completely anonymous and
does not allow for large amounts to be transported quickly and easily. - CORRECT ANSWER
A. Systemic weaknesses in free trade zones include inadequate AML/CFT safeguards, minimal
oversight by local authorities and weak procedures to inspect goods.
4. Which three of the following is an indication of possible money laundering in an insurance industry
scenario?
A. Insurance products sold through intermediaries, agents or brokers
B. Single-premium insurance bonds, redeemed at a discount
,C. Policyholders who are unconcerned about penalties for early cancellation
D. Policyholders who redeem the policy within the free look period - CORRECT ANSWER B.
Single-premium insurance bonds, redeemed at a discount
C. Policyholders who are unconcerned about penalties for early cancellation
D. Policyholders who redeem the policy within the free look period
5. Which two activities are typically associated with the black market peso exchange (BMPE) money
laundering system?
A. Converting illicit drug proceeds from dollars or euros to Colombian pesos
B. Converting illicit drug proceeds from Colombian pesos to dollars or euros
C. Facilitating purchases by Colombian importers of goods manufactured in the United States or
Europe through peso brokers
D. Facilitating purchases by European or U.S. importers of goods manufactured in Colombia through
peso brokers - CORRECT ANSWER A. Converting illicit drug proceeds from dollars or euros
to Colombian pesos
C. Facilitating purchases by Colombian importers of goods manufactured in the United States or
Europe through peso brokers
6. What is the right of reciprocity in the field of international cooperation against money laundering?
A. The legal principle that financial institutions that have referred customers to other financial
institutions can share information about these customers with the other institutions
B. A rule of the Basel Committee allowing properly regulated financial institutes of another member
state of the Basel Committee to do business without additional supervision to the degree that the other
state grants the same right
C. The right of each FATF member country to delegate prosecution of a case of money laundering to
another member that is already investigating the same case
D. A rule in the law of a country allowing its authorities to cooperate with authorities of other
countries to the degree that their law allows them to do the same - CORRECT ANSWER D. A
rule in the law of a country allowing its authorities to cooperate with authorities of other countries to
the degree that their law allows them to do the same
7. The greatest risk for money laundering is for casinos that
A. provide their customers with a wide array of gambling services.
B. operate in a non-Egmont member country.
,C. allow customers with credit balances to withdraw funds by check in another jurisdiction.
D. only send suspicious transaction reports to the financial intelligence unit of the country it operates
in - CORRECT ANSWER C. allow customers with credit balances to withdraw funds by check
in another jurisdiction.
8. Which statement is true regarding the risk of politically exposed persons (PEPs)?
A. PEPs provide access to third parties on whom the financial institution has not conducted sufficient
due diligence.
B. PEPs have significantly greater exposure to the politically corrupt funds, including accepting bribes
or misappropriating government funds.
C. PEPs are foreign customers who inherently present additional risk as they are engaged in
crossborder transactions.
D. PEPs generally do not pose enhanced risks to an institution due to their political standing; rather,
PEPs increase the prestige of an institution. - CORRECT ANSWER B. PEPs have significantly
greater exposure to the politically corrupt funds, including accepting bribes or misappropriating
government funds.
9. In 2014, the Wolfsberg Group published its Anti-Money Laundering Principles for Correspondent
Banking. Which three of the following elements are recommended to be included in the due diligence
of a correspondent banking client?
A. The geographic risk
B. The ownership and management structure
C. The résumé of the compliance officer
D. The customer base - CORRECT ANSWER A. The geographic risk
B. The ownership and management structure
D. The customer base
10. A new customer approaches a bank to open a commercial account. The customer provides an
address for the account located across the city from the branch. When asked by the account
representative if the customer requires any additional banking services, the customer responds that she
is also interested in opening a personal investment account. The account representative refers the
customer to the broker-dealer. The customer tells the firm representative she has never had a
brokerage account before and has a few questions about how an investment account works. The
customer asks how deposits can be made into her account, if there are any reporting requirements, and
how to go about moving balances out of the account using wire transfers. No questions are asked
about fees associated with these transactions. Which three items would be considered suspicious?
, A. The customer asks many questions about the brokerage accoun - CORRECT ANSWER A.
The customer asks many questions about the brokerage account but none of them is related to
investing.
C. The address of the account holder and the branch where the customer came to open the account are
not close to each other.
D. The customer appears unconcerned about the fees.
11. Trade-based money laundering requires the ability to
A. over- or under-invoice the goods.
B. sell the imported goods for as little as possible.
C. use goods that do not need to be declared.
D. avoid the use of high-value assets such as luxury cars or boats. - CORRECT ANSWER A.
over- or under-invoice the goods.
12. Which of the following statements is true? Correspondent banking is most vulnerable to money
laundering when the correspondent account is
A. maintained for foreign financial institutions that are banks.
B. not used to provide services directly to third parties.
C. maintained for a foreign bank that does not have a physical presence in any country.
D. maintained for a foreign private bank that is publicly traded and is a qualified intermediary. -
CORRECT ANSWER C. maintained for a foreign bank that does not have a physical presence
in any country.
13. Which statement is true?
A. Lawyers in FATF member countries generally cannot be used to serve as formation agents to set up
trusts, front companies or shell companies.
B. Lawyers and similar professional gatekeepers are called money services businesses.
C. Lawyers generally cannot be used to act as nominee shareholders for a beneficial owner.
D. Lawyers can be abused by launderers by using the accounts they set up for them for the placement
and layering of funds. - CORRECT ANSWER D. Lawyers can be abused by launderers by
using the accounts they set up for them for the placement and layering of funds.
14. Which three of the following statements are true in respect to the Fourth EU Anti-Money
Laundering Directive?
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
1. Which of the following is the most common method of laundering money through a legal money
services business?
A. Exchanging currency and remitting money
B. Smuggling bulk cash
C. Transferring funds through payable through accounts (PTAs)
D. Exchanging Colombian pesos on the black market - CORRECT ANSWER A. Exchanging
currency and remitting money
2. In general, the three phases of money laundering are said to be: placement and
A. structuring and manipulation.
B. layering and integration.
C. layering and smurfing.
D. integration and infiltration. - CORRECT ANSWER B. layering and integration.
3. Which statement is true?
A. Systemic weaknesses in free trade zones include inadequate AML/CFT safeguards, minimal
oversight by local authorities and weak procedures to inspect goods.
B. Cuckoo smurfing is a significant money laundering technique identified by the Financial Action
Task Force, wherein a form of structuring uses nested accounts with shell banks in secrecy havens.
C. In its 40 Recommendations, the FATF issued a list of designated categories of offense that asserts
crimes for a money laundering prosecution.
D. E-cash is not attractive to the money launderer because it cannot be completely anonymous and
does not allow for large amounts to be transported quickly and easily. - CORRECT ANSWER
A. Systemic weaknesses in free trade zones include inadequate AML/CFT safeguards, minimal
oversight by local authorities and weak procedures to inspect goods.
4. Which three of the following is an indication of possible money laundering in an insurance industry
scenario?
A. Insurance products sold through intermediaries, agents or brokers
B. Single-premium insurance bonds, redeemed at a discount
,C. Policyholders who are unconcerned about penalties for early cancellation
D. Policyholders who redeem the policy within the free look period - CORRECT ANSWER B.
Single-premium insurance bonds, redeemed at a discount
C. Policyholders who are unconcerned about penalties for early cancellation
D. Policyholders who redeem the policy within the free look period
5. Which two activities are typically associated with the black market peso exchange (BMPE) money
laundering system?
A. Converting illicit drug proceeds from dollars or euros to Colombian pesos
B. Converting illicit drug proceeds from Colombian pesos to dollars or euros
C. Facilitating purchases by Colombian importers of goods manufactured in the United States or
Europe through peso brokers
D. Facilitating purchases by European or U.S. importers of goods manufactured in Colombia through
peso brokers - CORRECT ANSWER A. Converting illicit drug proceeds from dollars or euros
to Colombian pesos
C. Facilitating purchases by Colombian importers of goods manufactured in the United States or
Europe through peso brokers
6. What is the right of reciprocity in the field of international cooperation against money laundering?
A. The legal principle that financial institutions that have referred customers to other financial
institutions can share information about these customers with the other institutions
B. A rule of the Basel Committee allowing properly regulated financial institutes of another member
state of the Basel Committee to do business without additional supervision to the degree that the other
state grants the same right
C. The right of each FATF member country to delegate prosecution of a case of money laundering to
another member that is already investigating the same case
D. A rule in the law of a country allowing its authorities to cooperate with authorities of other
countries to the degree that their law allows them to do the same - CORRECT ANSWER D. A
rule in the law of a country allowing its authorities to cooperate with authorities of other countries to
the degree that their law allows them to do the same
7. The greatest risk for money laundering is for casinos that
A. provide their customers with a wide array of gambling services.
B. operate in a non-Egmont member country.
,C. allow customers with credit balances to withdraw funds by check in another jurisdiction.
D. only send suspicious transaction reports to the financial intelligence unit of the country it operates
in - CORRECT ANSWER C. allow customers with credit balances to withdraw funds by check
in another jurisdiction.
8. Which statement is true regarding the risk of politically exposed persons (PEPs)?
A. PEPs provide access to third parties on whom the financial institution has not conducted sufficient
due diligence.
B. PEPs have significantly greater exposure to the politically corrupt funds, including accepting bribes
or misappropriating government funds.
C. PEPs are foreign customers who inherently present additional risk as they are engaged in
crossborder transactions.
D. PEPs generally do not pose enhanced risks to an institution due to their political standing; rather,
PEPs increase the prestige of an institution. - CORRECT ANSWER B. PEPs have significantly
greater exposure to the politically corrupt funds, including accepting bribes or misappropriating
government funds.
9. In 2014, the Wolfsberg Group published its Anti-Money Laundering Principles for Correspondent
Banking. Which three of the following elements are recommended to be included in the due diligence
of a correspondent banking client?
A. The geographic risk
B. The ownership and management structure
C. The résumé of the compliance officer
D. The customer base - CORRECT ANSWER A. The geographic risk
B. The ownership and management structure
D. The customer base
10. A new customer approaches a bank to open a commercial account. The customer provides an
address for the account located across the city from the branch. When asked by the account
representative if the customer requires any additional banking services, the customer responds that she
is also interested in opening a personal investment account. The account representative refers the
customer to the broker-dealer. The customer tells the firm representative she has never had a
brokerage account before and has a few questions about how an investment account works. The
customer asks how deposits can be made into her account, if there are any reporting requirements, and
how to go about moving balances out of the account using wire transfers. No questions are asked
about fees associated with these transactions. Which three items would be considered suspicious?
, A. The customer asks many questions about the brokerage accoun - CORRECT ANSWER A.
The customer asks many questions about the brokerage account but none of them is related to
investing.
C. The address of the account holder and the branch where the customer came to open the account are
not close to each other.
D. The customer appears unconcerned about the fees.
11. Trade-based money laundering requires the ability to
A. over- or under-invoice the goods.
B. sell the imported goods for as little as possible.
C. use goods that do not need to be declared.
D. avoid the use of high-value assets such as luxury cars or boats. - CORRECT ANSWER A.
over- or under-invoice the goods.
12. Which of the following statements is true? Correspondent banking is most vulnerable to money
laundering when the correspondent account is
A. maintained for foreign financial institutions that are banks.
B. not used to provide services directly to third parties.
C. maintained for a foreign bank that does not have a physical presence in any country.
D. maintained for a foreign private bank that is publicly traded and is a qualified intermediary. -
CORRECT ANSWER C. maintained for a foreign bank that does not have a physical presence
in any country.
13. Which statement is true?
A. Lawyers in FATF member countries generally cannot be used to serve as formation agents to set up
trusts, front companies or shell companies.
B. Lawyers and similar professional gatekeepers are called money services businesses.
C. Lawyers generally cannot be used to act as nominee shareholders for a beneficial owner.
D. Lawyers can be abused by launderers by using the accounts they set up for them for the placement
and layering of funds. - CORRECT ANSWER D. Lawyers can be abused by launderers by
using the accounts they set up for them for the placement and layering of funds.
14. Which three of the following statements are true in respect to the Fourth EU Anti-Money
Laundering Directive?
