Anti Money Laundering (AML) & Know Your Customer (KYC) Online Training

Anti Money Laundering and KYC training teaches professionals how to identify customers, assess financial crime risks, conduct customer due diligence, monitor unusual activity and escalate suspicious cases.

AML, or Anti Money Laundering, covers the wider framework used to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. KYC, or Know Your Customer, focuses on establishing who the customer is and understanding the risks associated with the relationship.

This course brings both areas together within a structured programme covering customer onboarding, beneficial ownership, PEPs, transaction monitoring, TRACFIN reporting and emerging digital risks.

For a wider introduction, read our complete guide to AML compliance training in France.

KYC focuses primarily on identifying and verifying customers. It normally begins during onboarding and helps an organization establish the customer’s identity, business activities, ownership structure and initial risk profile.

AML is the broader compliance framework. It includes KYC, customer due diligence, risk assessments, ongoing monitoring, sanctions screening, investigations, recordkeeping and suspicious activity reporting.

In simple terms, KYC establishes who the customer is, while AML helps the organization identify and manage financial crime risk throughout the relationship.

Our KYC versus AML guide explains these differences in greater detail.

Yes. KYC is a foundational component of an AML compliance programme.

The information collected during KYC provides the context needed to assess customer risk and monitor future activity. Without reliable KYC information, an organization may struggle to determine whether a transaction is normal, unusual or potentially suspicious.

However, KYC alone is not a complete AML programme. Organizations may also need ongoing monitoring, internal controls, employee training, investigations, reporting procedures and governance arrangements.

KYC means Know Your Customer. It focuses on identifying the customer and verifying the information they provide.

CDD, or Customer Due Diligence, is a wider process that includes understanding the purpose of the relationship, identifying beneficial owners, evaluating risk and monitoring the customer over time.

EDD, or Enhanced Due Diligence, involves additional checks for higher-risk situations. These may include complex ownership structures, politically exposed persons, high-risk jurisdictions, unusual transactions or concerns about the source of funds.

The level of due diligence should reflect the risk presented by the customer and the relationship.

The course covers:

• AML, KYC, CDD and EDD fundamentals
• The French LCB-FT framework
• The risk-based approach
• FATF standards, EU AML reform and AMLA
• Customer identification and verification
• Beneficial ownership and corporate control
• Politically exposed persons and high-risk customers
• Source of funds and source of wealth
• Digital onboarding and remote identity verification
• RegTech and transaction monitoring
• Crypto-assets and transfer traceability
• Artificial intelligence, data quality and human oversight
• AML red flags and unusual customer activity
• Internal escalation and case review
• TRACFIN reporting principles
• Confidentiality and recordkeeping
• Sanctions and cross-border financial crime risk
• AML risks in banking, payments, insurance, investment, real estate and professional services
• Audit evidence and continuous improvement

The course is suitable for:

• AML and compliance officers
• KYC analysts
• Customer onboarding teams
• Customer due diligence personnel
• Enhanced due diligence analysts
• Transaction monitoring teams
• Financial crime prevention professionals
• Risk management professionals
• Banking and payment-services employees
• Insurance and investment professionals
• Real estate compliance teams
• Internal auditors and controllers
• Legal and regulatory affairs teams
• Relationship managers
• Operations managers
• Senior managers responsible for compliance oversight

It may also benefit professionals seeking an introduction to financial crime compliance before applying for AML, KYC or onboarding roles.

Yes. No previous AML, KYC, banking, legal or compliance experience is required.

The course begins with the relationship between AML, KYC, CDD and EDD before progressing to customer verification, risk assessment, transaction monitoring, reporting and emerging financial crime risks.

A general interest in banking, fintech, financial crime prevention, customer onboarding, risk management or regulated business operations may help learners relate the material to workplace situations.

AML and KYC training is mandatory for certain organizations and professionals subject to French LCB-FT requirements. This does not mean that every employee or every company in France must complete the same training course.

The required content should reflect the organization’s regulated activities, financial crime risks and the responsibilities of the employees concerned.

Regulated organizations should also maintain evidence of completed training and update their programmes when risks, internal procedures or regulatory requirements change.

Read our guide to AML regulations in France for an overview of TRACFIN, the ACPR, the AMF, customer due diligence and reporting obligations.

Completing this course can support an organization’s training programme, but it does not automatically establish full regulatory compliance.

The three commonly recognized stages of money laundering are placement, layering and integration.

Placement involves introducing criminal proceeds into the financial system.

Layering involves using transactions, accounts, businesses or assets to make the origin of the funds more difficult to trace.

Integration involves returning the funds to the legitimate economy so that they appear to have come from lawful activities.

Modern money laundering schemes may not follow these stages in a simple order. Digital payments, shell companies, crypto-assets and cross-border transactions can create more complex patterns.

The risk-based approach requires an organization to apply controls according to the level of financial crime risk presented by a customer, product, service, transaction or jurisdiction.

A lower-risk customer may require standard due diligence and routine monitoring. A higher-risk relationship may require additional information, enhanced due diligence, management approval and more frequent review.

The objective is not to treat every customer in exactly the same way. It is to allocate stronger controls where the potential exposure is greater.

Our guide to AML risk assessment best practices explains customer risk, geographic risk, product risk, delivery-channel risk and residual risk.

A beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns, controls or benefits from a company or another legal arrangement.

Identifying the beneficial owner helps an organization look beyond the registered company name and understand who actually exercises control or receives the economic benefit.

This can be challenging when a business has several ownership layers, nominees, trusts, offshore companies or entities registered in different jurisdictions.

The course explains how beneficial ownership and control checks support customer due diligence and help identify hidden financial crime risks.

A politically exposed person is someone who holds or has held a prominent public function. Certain family members and close associates may also require consideration within a PEP assessment.

A PEP is not automatically involved in corruption, money laundering or another offence. The classification indicates that the relationship may carry a higher potential exposure to corruption or misuse of public funds.

Organizations may therefore need to perform additional checks, understand the source of funds and wealth, obtain appropriate approval and apply enhanced ongoing monitoring.

Source of funds refers to the origin of the money used for a particular transaction or business relationship.

Examples may include salary income, business revenue, an investment sale, an inheritance or proceeds from selling property.

Source of wealth refers to how the customer accumulated their total financial position over time. It may involve employment income, business ownership, investments, property or inherited assets.

These checks are especially relevant when dealing with high-risk customers, politically exposed persons, large transactions or activity that appears inconsistent with the customer’s known profile.

Yes. The course covers digital onboarding, remote identity verification, RegTech, data quality, artificial intelligence and human oversight.

Digital KYC may involve electronic identity documents, biometric checks, database verification, risk-scoring tools and automated screening.

Although these technologies can improve speed and consistency, organizations still need reliable data, appropriate controls and human review. Automated systems may produce errors, false matches or incomplete assessments if they are not properly designed and monitored.

Yes. The course explains how transaction monitoring supports ongoing AML compliance after a customer has been onboarded.

Transaction monitoring may examine:

• Transaction amounts and frequency
• Changes in customer behaviour
• Countries and counterparties involved
• Rapid movement of funds
• Activity inconsistent with the customer profile
• Unusual cross-border payments
• Patterns involving high-risk products or services
• Possible sanctions or financial crime exposure

An alert does not prove that money laundering has occurred. It indicates that the activity may require review, documentation or escalation.

Read AML Transaction Monitoring Explained for a more detailed examination of alert generation, investigation and reporting.

The course covers warning signs such as:

• Customers who avoid providing required information
• Unclear or complex beneficial ownership
• Transactions inconsistent with the customer profile
• Unexplained source of funds or source of wealth
• Unusual international transfers
• Rapid movement of funds between accounts
• Activity involving high-risk jurisdictions
• Unexpected changes in transaction behaviour
• Potential sanctions or PEP matches
• Suspicious crypto-asset transfers
• Transactions without a clear commercial purpose

A red flag is an indicator of potential risk. It does not automatically confirm criminal activity. The appropriate response may involve additional checks, enhanced due diligence, internal escalation or further investigation.

Our article on common AML compliance mistakes explains how weak due diligence and poorly designed monitoring can allow these warning signs to be missed.

Yes. The course covers TRACFIN reporting principles, internal escalation, case review, confidentiality and recordkeeping.

Learners examine how unusual activity may be identified and escalated through an organization’s internal compliance process.

Employees should normally follow their organization’s reporting procedures rather than independently contacting TRACFIN unless they are an authorized declarant or otherwise responsible for regulatory reporting.

The course provides general educational guidance. It does not replace an organization’s internal procedures or professional advice concerning a specific suspicious transaction.

The course provides approximately three hours of online learning.

It contains five core learning modules:

1. Modern AML and KYC Foundations
2. Customer Due Diligence and Ownership
3. Digital KYC and Emerging Risks
4. Suspicion and Reporting Duties
5. Sector Risk and Compliance Readiness

The course also includes a mock quiz and a final quiz.

Learners can access the training from mobile and desktop devices. The product page currently provides lifetime access, allowing learners to revisit the course content after completion.

Yes. The course includes five exercises, one mock quiz and one final quiz.

After successfully completing the programme, the learner receives a free Certificate of Completion from the French Compliance Institute.

The certificate can demonstrate that the learner has completed structured education in AML, KYC, customer due diligence and financial crime risk.

It is a certificate of course completion. It should not be presented as a government licence, regulatory authorization or professional designation such as CAMS.

The course can help learners develop foundational knowledge relevant to roles such as:

• KYC Analyst
• AML Analyst
• Customer Onboarding Analyst
• Customer Due Diligence Analyst
• Transaction Monitoring Analyst
• Financial Crime Analyst
• Compliance Assistant
• Risk and Control Analyst
• Regulatory Compliance Officer

However, completing one online course does not guarantee employment or automatically qualify a learner for every AML or KYC role.

Employers may also consider professional experience, investigation skills, regulatory knowledge, language ability, formal education and familiarity with compliance systems.

Our guide to the highest-paying compliance jobs in France provides additional information about compliance and financial crime career paths.

The best next course depends on the area you want to develop.

For more operational coverage of French LCB-FT controls, transaction monitoring, reporting and audit readiness, consider the Certificate in AML Compliance Training.

For deeper knowledge of international restrictions, sanctions screening, asset freezing, sanctions evasion and cross-border risk, consider the AML Sanctions Compliance course.

Learners should choose the next programme according to their professional responsibilities and the type of financial crime risk they expect to manage.