AML Acronyms
Quick answer
What do AML acronyms like KYC, CDD, SAR, and PEP stand for?
AML stands for Anti-Money Laundering, the framework these certifications test. Around it cluster due-diligence terms (KYC, CDD, EDD, UBO), filing terms (SAR, CTR), risk terms (PEP, TBML, TF, PF), and the regulators and bodies (FinCEN, OFAC, FATF, FIU) that issue the rules. The full table below expands over 35 terms used across CAMS, CGSS, ICA, CFCS, and CFE material.
Every anti-money-laundering (AML) certification, CAMS, CGSS, the ICA AML ladder, CFCS, and CFE alike, assumes you already speak a dense shorthand of acronyms before you open a study guide. This page is that shorthand in one scannable table: what each acronym stands for, in plain language, organized by category so you can find a term fast instead of scrolling a long alphabetical glossary. For a shorter set of the most foundational terms with a longer explanation of each, see the full AML glossary.
Core AML and CFT concepts
| Acronym | Stands for | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| AML | Anti-Money Laundering | The laws, regulations, and internal controls used to detect and prevent disguising illicit funds as legitimate income. |
| CFT | Combating the Financing of Terrorism | The parallel discipline to AML, focused on stopping funds from reaching terrorist activity rather than laundering criminal proceeds. |
| TF | Terrorist Financing | Providing or collecting funds intended to be used for terrorist acts, the activity CFT programs target. |
| PF | Proliferation Financing | Financing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, a newer FATF-recognized risk category alongside ML and TF. |
| ML | Money Laundering | Disguising the proceeds of crime as legitimate funds, the core activity AML programs exist to detect. |
| TBML | Trade-Based Money Laundering | Laundering proceeds by misrepresenting the price, quantity, or quality of goods in a trade transaction. |
| RBA | Risk-Based Approach | Allocating compliance resources in proportion to a customer’s or product’s actual money-laundering risk, the model FATF and most regulators expect. |
Due diligence and customer identification
| Acronym | Stands for | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| KYC | Know Your Customer | The process of identifying a customer and assessing their money-laundering risk before and during a relationship. |
| KYB | Know Your Business | The KYC equivalent applied to a corporate or business customer rather than an individual. |
| KYCC | Know Your Customer’s Customer | Extending due diligence to a customer’s own downstream customers, most common in correspondent banking and payments. |
| CDD | Customer Due Diligence | The baseline risk-assessment work performed on every customer: identity verification and understanding the relationship’s purpose. |
| EDD | Enhanced Due Diligence | A deeper level of CDD applied to higher-risk customers, such as PEPs or those in high-risk jurisdictions. |
| SDD | Simplified Due Diligence | A reduced level of CDD permitted for demonstrably low-risk customers or products under some regulatory regimes. |
| CIP | Customer Identification Program | The specific US regulatory requirement (under the Bank Secrecy Act) to verify a customer’s identity when opening an account. |
| UBO | Ultimate Beneficial Owner | The natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity, even through layers of intermediate ownership. |
| PEP | Politically Exposed Person | An individual who holds or has held a prominent public position, treated as higher-risk due to bribery and corruption exposure. |
| SOF | Source of Funds | Where the specific money used in a transaction came from, a standard EDD data point. |
| SOW | Source of Wealth | The origin of a customer’s overall net worth, broader than source of funds and also a standard EDD data point. |
| DNFBP | Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession | FATF’s category for AML-obligated non-bank businesses: casinos, real estate agents, dealers in precious metals, lawyers, and accountants in certain activities. |
Reports, filings, and monitoring
| Acronym | Stands for | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| SAR | Suspicious Activity Report | A report a regulated firm files with its Financial Intelligence Unit when it suspects funds or activity are linked to crime. |
| STR | Suspicious Transaction Report | The term many jurisdictions outside the US use for the same filing a SAR represents. |
| CTR | Currency Transaction Report | A US filing required for cash transactions over a set regulatory threshold, regardless of suspicion. |
| GTO | Geographic Targeting Order | A FinCEN order requiring extra reporting for specified transactions in a specified geographic area for a limited time. |
| KYT | Know Your Transaction | Ongoing, transaction-level monitoring layered on top of KYC, common in crypto and payments compliance. |
Regulators, bodies, and information-sharing
| Acronym | Stands for | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| FinCEN | Financial Crimes Enforcement Network | The US Treasury bureau that administers the Bank Secrecy Act and collects SARs and CTRs. |
| OFAC | Office of Foreign Assets Control | The US Treasury office that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions. |
| FATF | Financial Action Task Force | The intergovernmental body that sets the global AML/CFT standards most national regulation is built on. |
| FIU | Financial Intelligence Unit | The national agency that receives and analyzes SAR/STR filings; FinCEN is the US FIU. |
| BSA | Bank Secrecy Act | The core US law requiring financial institutions to assist government agencies in detecting and preventing money laundering. |
| MSB | Money Services Business | A US regulatory category covering money transmitters, check cashers, and currency exchangers, subject to BSA obligations. |
| MVTS | Money or Value Transfer Service | FATF’s international term for the same category of business the US calls an MSB. |
| MLRO | Money Laundering Reporting Officer | The named individual, common in UK and Commonwealth regulatory regimes, responsible for a firm’s AML program and SAR decisions. |
AML/CFT certifications and issuing bodies
| Acronym | Stands for | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| CAMS | Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist | ACAMS’s broad AML credential, the most widely recognized entry point into the field. |
| CGSS | Certified Global Sanctions Specialist | ACAMS’s sanctions-specialist credential, sibling to CAMS. |
| ACAMS | Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists | The body that issues CAMS and CGSS. |
| CFCS | Certified Financial Crime Specialist | ACFCS’s credential spanning AML, fraud, sanctions, and investigations. |
| ACFCS | Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists | The body that issues CFCS. |
| CFE | Certified Fraud Examiner | ACFE’s fraud-examination credential. |
| ACFE | Association of Certified Fraud Examiners | The body that issues CFE. |
| ICA | International Compliance Association | The UK-based body offering a graded AML certificate-through-diploma ladder. |
Full detail on how these five credentials compare is in the which AML certification should you get guide and the cross-certification comparison.
How to use this table while studying
Acronym recall alone rarely earns points on a certification exam; the exams test whether you can apply the concept behind the acronym to a scenario. Use this table as a fast lookup when you hit an unfamiliar term in study material, then follow the linked guide or the full glossary entry for the concept it represents. If a term you expected is missing here, it is most likely covered with a longer explanation in the AML glossary instead of this quick-reference table.
This page defines general anti-money-laundering and financial-crime terminology in common industry and regulatory use; it is not sourced from any single certification body's proprietary study material. CAMS, CGSS, CFCS, CFE, and ICA are marks of their respective bodies, named here only for reference. This site is independent, published by Urban Algorithm LLC, and sells no course, membership, or exam seat.