Welcome to AMLReady — Course Overview & How to Use It

Here's a number that should get your attention. Every year, somewhere between two and five percent of global gross domestic product is laundered through the financial system. That's trillions of dollars, moving quietly through banks, casinos, real estate, and now crypto wallets. The people whose job is to spot that money and stop it? They're called anti-money-laundering specialists. And in the next few hours, you're going to learn to think like one — and to be ready for the exam that proves it.

Welcome to AMLReady. I'm glad you're here. This course is built for one purpose: to help you prepare for the CAMS® exam — the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist credential — with a clear, structured, public-source curriculum.

So who is this for? Maybe you're a compliance analyst aiming for your first certification. Maybe you're a career-changer breaking into financial crime. Maybe you're a student, an auditor, or a banker who's been told this credential will open doors. Wherever you're starting, you don't need a finance degree. You need curiosity, a study plan, and a few hours a week. I'll bring the structure.

Now, let's talk about how the material is organized. The exam blueprint covers a lot of ground, so we've split it into six teaching domains that build on each other.

First, Domain 1 — the risks and methods of financial crime. This is where you learn how laundering actually works. Next, Domain 2 — the global frameworks and regulations: FATF, the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and more. Then Domain 3 — building a compliance program, the operational heart of the job. Domain 4 covers the tools and technologies that detect crime at scale. Domain 5 takes you deep into investigations, suspicious-activity reporting, and recordkeeping. And finally, Domain 6 — virtual assets, crypto, and emerging risk, a fast-growing area the exam loves to test.

Think of these six domains as a story. We start with how the crime happens, move to the rules that govern it, then to how real institutions fight it.

Here's how I want you to use what's in front of you. Each lecture is short — five to eleven minutes — narrated over clear slides. Watch actively. Pause when a term is new. Say acronyms out loud, because the exam is full of them.

But watching alone won't get you there. You have to practice. That's where the free AMLReady practice test comes in. After you finish a domain's lectures, go test yourself on that domain. The questions are original, written to exam style, designed to train your reasoning — not to memorize answers. When you miss one, come back to the lecture. That loop — learn, test, review — is the single most effective way to study.

Now, one important thing, and I'll say it plainly. AMLReady is an independent study aid. CAMS® and ACAMS® are trademarks of their respective owner. This course is not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by ACAMS. We don't reproduce their study materials or any real exam questions.

Instead, everything here is built from public-domain regulatory sources — FATF, the FFIEC BSA/AML Examination Manual, the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, OFAC guidance, FinCEN advisories, and more. When I state a rule, I'll name its public source so you can verify it yourself. And I won't promise you'll pass — no honest course can. What I can promise is a serious, structured preparation that gives you every advantage.

So here's where we are. You know who this course is for, the six domains we'll travel through, and the learn-test-review loop that makes it work. And you know this is an independent, public-source study aid — not an ACAMS product. Next up, we'll pull back the curtain on the exam itself: its format, the question types, the domain weights, and what it actually takes to pass. Let's go.