ACAMS CAMS Certification Practice Test PDF (Free Printable 2026 October)
💯 Free ACAMS CAMS Certification Test practice test with instant feedback and detailed answer explanations. Prepare for your exam.
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The CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist) credential is the gold standard certification for AML compliance professionals worldwide. Issued by the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, it validates your ability to detect, prevent, and report financial crime across banking, fintech, and regulatory sectors.
Our free ACAMS CAMS practice test PDF lets you study the exact domains tested on exam day — offline, on your own schedule. Print it, annotate it, and use it to sharpen your knowledge of AML typologies, compliance program design, financial intelligence gathering, and investigation support before you sit for the real exam.
What the ACAMS CAMS Exam Covers
Risks and Methods of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
The first domain tests your understanding of how money laundering and terrorist financing work in practice. You'll need to know the classic three stages — placement, layering, and integration — and how criminals exploit financial systems through shell companies, real estate, trade-based money laundering (TBML), and informal value transfer systems like hawala. Trade-based money laundering involves manipulating trade documents and invoice pricing to move value across borders undetected; examiners expect you to identify red flags such as over- and under-invoicing, multiple invoicing, and falsely described goods. The exam also covers emerging typologies including virtual asset abuse, cryptocurrency mixing services, and NFT-based laundering schemes that have become increasingly prominent in recent years.
AML/CTF Compliance Programs
A strong AML compliance program is the backbone of any regulated institution's defenses. The CAMS exam tests your knowledge of the four pillars required under the Bank Secrecy Act: written policies and procedures, a designated compliance officer, ongoing employee training, and independent testing (audit). You must understand FinCEN's Customer Due Diligence (CDD) rule, which mandates collecting beneficial ownership information for legal entity customers — identifying natural persons who own 25% or more or exercise control. The exam covers know-your-customer (KYC) program design including customer identification programs (CIP), enhanced due diligence (EDD) for high-risk customers such as politically exposed persons (PEPs), correspondent banking relationships, and private banking accounts. FATF's 40 Recommendations provide the global framework, and you'll be tested on how jurisdictions implement risk-based approaches to AML supervision.
Gathering and Analyzing Financial Intelligence
This domain covers the tools and techniques used to detect suspicious activity. Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) must be filed with FinCEN for cash transactions exceeding $10,000, while Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are filed when a transaction involves at least $5,000 and the institution knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect illicit activity. You need to understand SAR narrative writing standards, the safe harbor protections for filers, and the prohibition on tipping off the subject. The exam also covers internal transaction monitoring systems, peer comparison analysis, network analysis to identify hidden relationships between accounts, and the use of open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools. FinCEN's 314(a) program allows law enforcement to request searches of financial institution databases, while 314(b) permits voluntary information sharing between institutions.
Supporting and Conducting Investigations
AML professionals often work alongside law enforcement and internal fraud teams. This domain tests your knowledge of how financial investigations are structured, how to preserve and package financial evidence, and how to respond to grand jury subpoenas, law enforcement requests, and court orders. You'll need to understand asset forfeiture — both civil and criminal — and how structuring (deliberately breaking up transactions to avoid CTR thresholds) constitutes a federal offense. Correspondent banking risks are particularly emphasized: respondent banks present increased risk because the correspondent bank cannot perform KYC directly on the respondent's underlying customers, creating nested account vulnerabilities. The CAMS exam expects candidates to identify red flags in correspondent relationships including banks in high-risk jurisdictions, shell banks, and accounts with unexplained transaction volumes.
US AML Legal Framework
The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 is the foundational US AML statute, requiring financial institutions to maintain records and file reports that help law enforcement detect and prosecute money laundering. The USA PATRIOT Act (2001) dramatically expanded BSA requirements post-9/11, adding Section 314 information sharing, Section 326 CIP requirements, and Section 312 correspondent and private banking rules. The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA) represents the most significant reform in decades, establishing a national beneficial ownership registry administered by FinCEN, strengthening whistleblower protections, and expanding the definition of financial institutions subject to AML requirements to include antiquities dealers and cryptocurrency exchanges. The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), part of AMLA, created FinCEN's beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting regime; since FinCEN's March 2025 interim final rule, US companies and US persons are exempt and only foreign companies registered to do business in the US must report.
- ✓Read the ACAMS CAMS Study Guide (6th edition) cover to cover
- ✓Complete all four practice exam modules in the ACAMS learning portal
- ✓Memorize BSA reporting thresholds: CTR $10K, SAR $5K (or $2K for money services businesses)
- ✓Study FATF 40 Recommendations and the risk-based approach framework
- ✓Understand FinCEN CDD Rule: 4 pillars and beneficial ownership 25% threshold
- ✓Review SAR narrative writing requirements and tipping-off prohibition
- ✓Learn the three stages of money laundering with real-world typology examples
- ✓Study correspondent banking risks, nested accounts, and shell bank prohibitions
- ✓Practice trade-based money laundering red flags: over/under-invoicing, multiple invoicing
- ✓Review AMLA 2020 changes: FinCEN beneficial ownership registry and CTA requirements
Free ACAMS Practice Tests Online
Ready to test your knowledge before downloading the PDF? Our ACAMS practice test gives you instant feedback on each question so you can identify weak spots across all four CAMS exam domains. Use the online tests for active recall practice, then use the PDF for final review.
- +Industry-recognized credential boosts your resume
- +Higher earning potential (10-20% salary increase on average)
- +Demonstrates commitment to professional development
- +Opens doors to advanced career opportunities
- −Exam preparation requires significant time investment (4-8 weeks)
- −Certification fees can be $100-$400+
- −May require continuing education to maintain
- −Some employers may not require certification
Sample Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists Practice Questions
Try these questions from our free Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists practice tests. The correct answer and an explanation follow each question.
In addition to identifying equity owners, FinCEN's beneficial ownership rule also requires identification of which individual?
- A. The entity's largest creditor
- B. A single person with significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct the entity
- C. All directors of the company
- D. The entity's registered agent
Answer: B. A single person with significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct the entity
The CDD Rule's two-prong approach requires identifying equity owners at 25%+ and one control person with significant responsibility for managing or directing the entity.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) present a money laundering risk primarily through which mechanism?
- A. NFTs can be secretly converted to fiat currency without triggering reporting
- B. Wash trading — selling NFTs to oneself at inflated prices to layer illicit funds
- C. NFTs are exempt from AML regulations in all jurisdictions
- D. NFT platforms do not require internet connectivity, avoiding transaction records
Answer: B. Wash trading — selling NFTs to oneself at inflated prices to layer illicit funds
Wash trading in NFTs — where a seller transfers an NFT to themselves or a colluding party at an artificially high price — allows illicit funds to enter the market as 'sale proceeds,' effectively layering and integrating dirty money.
Which international body is primarily responsible for setting global AML/CFT standards and conducting mutual evaluations of member countries?
- A. The World Bank
- B. The International Monetary Fund
- C. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
- D. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
Answer: C. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
FATF issues the 40 Recommendations that form the international framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
Which stage of the money laundering process involves making illicit funds appear to come from a legitimate source?
- A. Placement
- B. Layering
- C. Integration
- D. Structuring
Answer: C. Integration
Integration is the final stage where laundered funds re-enter the legitimate economy appearing to come from a lawful source.
Take the full Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists practice test
💰 What are the three stages of money laundering?
The three stages are placement, layering, and integration. Placement moves illicit cash into the financial system, layering disguises its origin through complex transfers, and integration returns the funds to the economy looking legitimate.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TEST🏦 What is the CTR reporting threshold?
US financial institutions must file a Currency Transaction Report with FinCEN for cash transactions over $10,000 in one business day, including multiple cash transactions by or for the same person that add up to more than $10,000. A CTR is required whether or not the activity looks suspicious.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TEST🚩 When does a bank have to file a SAR?
Banks must file a Suspicious Activity Report for transactions of $5,000 or more when they know, suspect, or have reason to suspect illegal activity (money services businesses use a $2,000 threshold). The SAR is due within 30 calendar days of initial detection, extendable to 60 days if no suspect has been identified.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TEST🤫 What is tipping off in AML?
Tipping off means telling a customer, or anyone involved in a transaction, that a SAR has been filed or an investigation is under way. SAR confidentiality rules prohibit it, and filers who report in good faith are protected by safe harbor from civil liability.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TEST🌍 How many FATF Recommendations are there?
The Financial Action Task Force publishes 40 Recommendations, the global standard for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. FATF checks how countries apply them through mutual evaluations and publicly lists jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TEST🔍 What is the beneficial ownership threshold under the CDD Rule?
FinCEN's Customer Due Diligence Rule requires covered institutions to identify each individual who owns 25% or more of a legal entity customer. They must also identify one individual with significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct the entity.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TEST🧾 What is trade-based money laundering?
Trade-based money laundering (TBML) moves value across borders by misrepresenting the price, quantity, or quality of goods in trade transactions. Classic red flags are over- and under-invoicing, multiple invoicing of the same shipment, and goods described falsely on shipping documents.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TEST👤 What is a PEP in AML compliance?
A politically exposed person (PEP) is someone entrusted with a prominent public function, such as a senior politician, judge, or military officer, along with their family members and close associates. PEPs pose higher corruption risk, so institutions apply enhanced due diligence, including source-of-wealth checks and senior management approval.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TEST✂️ What is structuring and is it illegal?
Structuring is breaking cash deposits or withdrawals into smaller amounts to evade the $10,000 CTR requirement. It is a federal crime under 31 U.S.C. 5324 even when the money itself is legitimate, and suspected structuring is a common reason to file a SAR.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TEST📝 How many questions are on the CAMS exam?
The CAMS exam has 120 multiple-choice questions and a time limit of 3.5 hours (210 minutes). ACAMS requires a scaled score of 75 to pass, and you can take the exam at a Pearson VUE test center or through online proctoring.
START ACAMS PRACTICE TESTOfficial Resources
- ACAMS (Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists) is the official body that runs CAMS exam registration, eligibility rules, the candidate handbook, and recertification.
- FinCEN – The Bank Secrecy Act is the US Treasury bureau's official overview of the BSA, the source of the CTR, SAR, and recordkeeping rules tested on the exam.
- Financial Action Task Force (FATF) publishes the 40 Recommendations, mutual evaluation reports, and the lists of high-risk and monitored jurisdictions.