CGSS CERTIFICATION SCRIPT 2026
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◍ Alert.
Answer: A review based on underlying red flags that requires analyst
attention. Within know-your-customer procedures, alerts are potential
discrepancies that are flagged, either manually or through an automated
system, based on defined red flags and underlying typologies. Within
sanctions screening, an alert is a hit, or multiple hits, of an internal record
checked against sanctions screening lists. If they cannot be resolved easily
as false positives, alerts generally result in investigations.
◍ What was the first recognized global body to impose sanctions.
Answer: League of Nations
◍ The power to deploy sanctions are included:.
Answer: in the League of Nations Covenants.The power to deploy sanctions
was included in the League's Covenant. Article 16 of the Covenant
authorized economic sanctions and military actions against any state that
employs wa
◍ One of the first recorded instances of sanctions was the:.
Answer: Megarian Decree.One of the first recorded instances of sanctions
dates back to the fifth century BC. With the Megarian Decree in 432 BC, the
Athenians levied economic sanctions, banning citizens of Megara from
accessing markets in the Athenian empire
◍ The Non-Proliferation Treaty is intended to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons and technology and promote peaceful uses of which of the
following?.
, Answer: Nuclear energyThe NPT solidified the international community's
commitment to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. Its goal is to
create a binding commitment of disarmament by the five declared
nuclear-weapon states and to promote the peaceful use of nuclear
technology while preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons
technology
◍ Asset confiscation.
Answer: The practice of taking ownership of an individual or legal entity's
assets during or as the result of an investigation into a sanctions violation.
See also "Asset forfeiture."
◍ The Magnitsky Act allows the US government to freeze the assets of and
ban entry of any foreign official implicated in which of the following?.
Answer: Human rights violation
◍ Which of the following best describes the Financial Action Task Force's
Mutual Evaluation Reports?.
Answer: Reports that evaluate a country's compliance with FATF's
recommendations
◍ Asset forfeiture.
Answer: Asset forfeiture is an important tool to help law enforcement
agencies defund organized crime and prevent the commission of new
crimes. In civil asset forfeiture, assets unrelated to the commission of a
crime can be taken from the individual accused of committing a crime. See
also "Asset confiscation."
◍ A US consultant is in Beijing, China working on a project for a major
Chinese financial institution, and is asked how to set up a sanctions
compliance program to engage in trade-related transactions with the country
of Iran. The US consultant drafts a sanctions compliance framework and
delivers it to the client. The consultant is most likely engaged in:.
Answer: Facilitation.KEY TAKEAWAYS • Facilitation is a concept that
applies to US persons not directly engaged in sanctioned activity. •
Facilitation is a broad concept that may encompass a variety of activities,
, such as overseeing the transfer of equipment for a non-US person to
sanctioned locations. • US persons are prohibited from making business
decisions on behalf of non-US persons for projects in sanctioned countries. •
Providing technical or advisory expertise for operations in sanctioned
countries may be prohibited as facilitation.
◍ Which of the following describes multiple countries working together to
block trade and issue embargoes against another country?.
Answer: Multilateral sanctions
◍ Asset structuring.
Answer: See "Structuring."
◍ Autonomous sanctions.
Answer: A single entity, whether a government or a coalition of
governments, such as the EU, acting to implement and enforce a sanctions
regime. See "Unilateral sanctions."
◍ Which of the following is a government's exercise of its authority beyond its
geographical boundaries?.
Answer: Extraterritoriality
◍ Batch screening.
Answer: The process of screening a company's entire customer base and
other associated entities, such as vendors, with ASTs on a periodic basis.
◍ An SDN deposits US funds into his bank account in Germany with a
German bank. The German bank maintains a nostro account with a US
financial institution in New York. The funds may be subject to forfeiture
according to which 2001 US law?.
Answer: The USA PATRIOT Act : BSASection 311 of the USA PATRIOT
Act directs the Treasury to designate a financial institution or jurisdiction as
being of "primary money laundering concern" based on numerous
jurisdictional and institutional factors, including the extent to which the
institution is used to facilitate or promote money launderingan account that a
bank keeps for itself in a bank in another country, usually in that country's
, currency
◍ Which of the following is the most common type of sanctions imposed by
one nation upon another?Trade.
Answer: Trademposing trade sanctions that limit the target country's exports
or restrict its imports
◍ During which period did governments impose sanctions more often than in
prior decades?.
Answer: Cold WarDuring the Cold War, governments imposed sanctions
more often than in prior decades.The United States, as one of the two
superpowers, imposed sanctions significantly more than any other country.
It was not until the 1990s, after the Cold War ended, that unilateral sanctions
began to be replaced by 1 Lance Davis and Stanley Engerman, "History
Lessons: Sanctions: Neither War nor Peace," The Journal of Economic
Perspectives 17, no. 2 (2003), 189. 2 Davis and Engerman, 189. CGSS
Version 1.57 Page 9 multilateral, intergovernmental coalitions
◍ The bombing of which site provoked questions about whether sanctions
were an alternative to war or might hasten military force.
Answer: Pearl HarborUS trade sanctions against Japan factored into the
Japanese decision to enter World War II and attack Pearl Harbor. This
situation provoked questions regarding whether sanctions were an
alternative to war, or whether they instead might rush nations to use military
force. After the conclusion of World War II, the United Nations was formed
in 1945, and sanctions were formally recognized within the charter as a
foreign policy tool.
◍ Which of the following has not been used as an official reason for imposing
sanctions?.
Answer: NOT Raising money for humanitarian reliefCorrectPreventing
warReinforcing labor rights (Strengthening human rights or labor
rights)Freeing captured citizens
◍ Beneficial owner.
Answer: The term "beneficial owner" has two different definitions
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◍ Alert.
Answer: A review based on underlying red flags that requires analyst
attention. Within know-your-customer procedures, alerts are potential
discrepancies that are flagged, either manually or through an automated
system, based on defined red flags and underlying typologies. Within
sanctions screening, an alert is a hit, or multiple hits, of an internal record
checked against sanctions screening lists. If they cannot be resolved easily
as false positives, alerts generally result in investigations.
◍ What was the first recognized global body to impose sanctions.
Answer: League of Nations
◍ The power to deploy sanctions are included:.
Answer: in the League of Nations Covenants.The power to deploy sanctions
was included in the League's Covenant. Article 16 of the Covenant
authorized economic sanctions and military actions against any state that
employs wa
◍ One of the first recorded instances of sanctions was the:.
Answer: Megarian Decree.One of the first recorded instances of sanctions
dates back to the fifth century BC. With the Megarian Decree in 432 BC, the
Athenians levied economic sanctions, banning citizens of Megara from
accessing markets in the Athenian empire
◍ The Non-Proliferation Treaty is intended to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons and technology and promote peaceful uses of which of the
following?.
, Answer: Nuclear energyThe NPT solidified the international community's
commitment to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. Its goal is to
create a binding commitment of disarmament by the five declared
nuclear-weapon states and to promote the peaceful use of nuclear
technology while preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons
technology
◍ Asset confiscation.
Answer: The practice of taking ownership of an individual or legal entity's
assets during or as the result of an investigation into a sanctions violation.
See also "Asset forfeiture."
◍ The Magnitsky Act allows the US government to freeze the assets of and
ban entry of any foreign official implicated in which of the following?.
Answer: Human rights violation
◍ Which of the following best describes the Financial Action Task Force's
Mutual Evaluation Reports?.
Answer: Reports that evaluate a country's compliance with FATF's
recommendations
◍ Asset forfeiture.
Answer: Asset forfeiture is an important tool to help law enforcement
agencies defund organized crime and prevent the commission of new
crimes. In civil asset forfeiture, assets unrelated to the commission of a
crime can be taken from the individual accused of committing a crime. See
also "Asset confiscation."
◍ A US consultant is in Beijing, China working on a project for a major
Chinese financial institution, and is asked how to set up a sanctions
compliance program to engage in trade-related transactions with the country
of Iran. The US consultant drafts a sanctions compliance framework and
delivers it to the client. The consultant is most likely engaged in:.
Answer: Facilitation.KEY TAKEAWAYS • Facilitation is a concept that
applies to US persons not directly engaged in sanctioned activity. •
Facilitation is a broad concept that may encompass a variety of activities,
, such as overseeing the transfer of equipment for a non-US person to
sanctioned locations. • US persons are prohibited from making business
decisions on behalf of non-US persons for projects in sanctioned countries. •
Providing technical or advisory expertise for operations in sanctioned
countries may be prohibited as facilitation.
◍ Which of the following describes multiple countries working together to
block trade and issue embargoes against another country?.
Answer: Multilateral sanctions
◍ Asset structuring.
Answer: See "Structuring."
◍ Autonomous sanctions.
Answer: A single entity, whether a government or a coalition of
governments, such as the EU, acting to implement and enforce a sanctions
regime. See "Unilateral sanctions."
◍ Which of the following is a government's exercise of its authority beyond its
geographical boundaries?.
Answer: Extraterritoriality
◍ Batch screening.
Answer: The process of screening a company's entire customer base and
other associated entities, such as vendors, with ASTs on a periodic basis.
◍ An SDN deposits US funds into his bank account in Germany with a
German bank. The German bank maintains a nostro account with a US
financial institution in New York. The funds may be subject to forfeiture
according to which 2001 US law?.
Answer: The USA PATRIOT Act : BSASection 311 of the USA PATRIOT
Act directs the Treasury to designate a financial institution or jurisdiction as
being of "primary money laundering concern" based on numerous
jurisdictional and institutional factors, including the extent to which the
institution is used to facilitate or promote money launderingan account that a
bank keeps for itself in a bank in another country, usually in that country's
, currency
◍ Which of the following is the most common type of sanctions imposed by
one nation upon another?Trade.
Answer: Trademposing trade sanctions that limit the target country's exports
or restrict its imports
◍ During which period did governments impose sanctions more often than in
prior decades?.
Answer: Cold WarDuring the Cold War, governments imposed sanctions
more often than in prior decades.The United States, as one of the two
superpowers, imposed sanctions significantly more than any other country.
It was not until the 1990s, after the Cold War ended, that unilateral sanctions
began to be replaced by 1 Lance Davis and Stanley Engerman, "History
Lessons: Sanctions: Neither War nor Peace," The Journal of Economic
Perspectives 17, no. 2 (2003), 189. 2 Davis and Engerman, 189. CGSS
Version 1.57 Page 9 multilateral, intergovernmental coalitions
◍ The bombing of which site provoked questions about whether sanctions
were an alternative to war or might hasten military force.
Answer: Pearl HarborUS trade sanctions against Japan factored into the
Japanese decision to enter World War II and attack Pearl Harbor. This
situation provoked questions regarding whether sanctions were an
alternative to war, or whether they instead might rush nations to use military
force. After the conclusion of World War II, the United Nations was formed
in 1945, and sanctions were formally recognized within the charter as a
foreign policy tool.
◍ Which of the following has not been used as an official reason for imposing
sanctions?.
Answer: NOT Raising money for humanitarian reliefCorrectPreventing
warReinforcing labor rights (Strengthening human rights or labor
rights)Freeing captured citizens
◍ Beneficial owner.
Answer: The term "beneficial owner" has two different definitions
