Compare the five AML and financial-crime certifications

Quick answer

How do CAMS, CGSS, the ICA diplomas, CFCS, and CFE compare?

CAMS costs $2,095 (private-sector) or $1,595 (public-sector) plus $295/$195 a year in ACAMS membership; CGSS shares that membership but its exam fee is not cleanly published. The ICA ladder runs GBP765 to GBP4,500 by level plus a GBP195 membership add-on. CFCS costs $1,395/$1,045, and CFE's exam application fee is $480. The table below sets all five side by side by body, scope, eligibility, cost, and recertification, with a source and a date on every cell.

Last reviewed 2026-07-28 by Urban Algorithm LLC

What is confirmed, and how

Every cell below is dated and sourced (checked 2026-07-28). The ICA, ACFCS, and ACFE figures are directly fetched from each body's own page. acams.org (CAMS and CGSS) returned an HTTP 403 Cloudflare bot challenge on every direct-fetch attempt, so those figures are cross-referenced across three or more independent, mutually-agreeing secondary sources instead of a direct read, which is disclosed on each credential's detail page. Two cells stay genuinely unpublished rather than guessed: the CGSS exam fee (secondary sources conflict) and the CFCS exam question count and passing score (acfcs.org does not publish them and secondary sources conflict). A neutral source that publishes a wrong number is worse than one that says "not published."

Show or hide credentials

Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Certified Global Sanctions Specialist ICA Certificate in Anti Money Laundering ICA Advanced Certificate in Anti Money Laundering ICA Diploma in Anti Money Laundering Certified Financial Crime Specialist Certified Fraud Examiner

All credentials are shown by default. Uncheck any to focus on two or three side by side.

Cross-certification comparison of CAMS, CGSS, the ICA AML ladder, CFCS, and CFE.
Credential	Body and origin	Scope	Eligibility model	Membership	Cost to certify	Annual membership	Recertification	Verified
Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)	Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), US-headquartered, global	AML specialist: broad anti-money-laundering and financial-crime-compliance credential	40-point system	Required	$2,095 ($1,595 public/government sector)	$295	60 credits / 3 yr	2026-07-28
Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS)	Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS)	Sanctions specialist: the sanctions-specific sibling of CAMS	40-point system	Required	Not published	$295	30 credits / 3 yr	2026-07-28
ICA Certificate in Anti Money Laundering (Understanding level)	International Compliance Association (ICA), UK-origin, awarded in association with a university partner	AML at the Understanding learning level: entry rung of the ICA AML ladder	Open entry	Required	£765	£195	One-time qualification, no recert cycle	2026-07-28
ICA Advanced Certificate in Anti Money Laundering (Applying level)	International Compliance Association (ICA), UK-origin, awarded in association with a university partner	AML at the Applying learning level: mid rung of the ICA AML ladder	Level-gated	Required	£2,250	£195	One-time qualification, no recert cycle	2026-07-28
ICA Diploma in Anti Money Laundering (Managing level)	International Compliance Association (ICA), UK-origin, awarded in association with a university partner	AML at the Managing learning level: top rung of the ICA AML ladder	Level-gated	Required	£4,500	£195	One-time qualification, no recert cycle	2026-07-28
Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS)	Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS), US-origin	Broad financial crime: AML plus fraud, sanctions, corruption, and investigations	40-credit system	Required	$1,395 ($1,045 public/government sector)	Not published	60 credits / 3 yr	2026-07-28
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)	Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), US-origin	Fraud examination: fraud-focused credential that overlaps the AML career surface	40-point system	Required	$480	Not published	20 credits / 1 yr	2026-07-28

Source basis and full column set: see the dataset provenance in the repository. Every cell carries its own source URL and verified date. Per-credential detail lives on the credential pages.