Skip to main content

CGSS study lessons

Certified Global Sanctions Specialist — 25 free, citation-backed lessons covering every exam domain. Read on any device, no login.

Start with Lesson 01 →
  1. 01Welcome: Global Sanctions and This ExamMeet the CGSS credential and why sanctions compliance is its own discipline, not just AML. You'll see why the exam is global and multi-regime, and get the independence disclaimer plus the learn-test-review study plan that makes the rest of the course stick.5 min read
  2. 02What Sanctions Are and Why Governments Use ThemDefine economic and financial sanctions in plain English and separate them from export controls and money laundering. Learn the coerce-constrain-signal logic behind sanctions and the legal authorities (IEEPA, UN Charter Article 41) the exam expects you to name.5 min read
  3. 03The Major Sanctions Authorities: UN, US (OFAC), EU, UK (OFSI)Map the four bodies that dominate the exam and the instruments each uses, from UN Security Council resolutions to OFAC regulations, EU Council Regulations, and OFSI under SAMLA 2018. See how one UN listing ripples into every national regime.5 min read
  4. 04Types of Sanctions: Comprehensive, List-Based, Sectoral, SecondaryClassify any measure in seconds. Distinguish comprehensive embargoes, targeted list-based designations, narrow sectoral prohibitions, and far-reaching secondary sanctions, and avoid the classic trap of treating a sectoral target as a fully blocked person.4 min read
  5. 05Lists and Designations: SDN, Consolidated Lists, and the 50 Percent RuleKnow the OFAC SDN and Consolidated lists plus the UN, EU, and UK lists, and master the most-tested rule in the domain: the OFAC 50 Percent Rule that blocks unlisted entities owned by designated persons.4 min read
  6. 06Prohibitions in Practice: Blocking, Rejecting, Facilitation, LicensesTurn 'who is sanctioned' into 'what do I do.' Learn to distinguish blocking from rejecting, spot prohibited facilitation, and use general and specific licenses, the actions the exam tests most and penalizes most when chosen wrong.4 min read
  7. 07Enforcement, Penalties, and Strict LiabilityUnderstand why intent often doesn't matter, how OFAC weighs egregious versus non-egregious cases, and how voluntary self-disclosure, cooperation, and a real compliance program reduce exposure. Learn the logic of penalties, not the dollar amounts.4 min read
  8. 08Governance: Senior Management, the SCO, and Building the ProgramBuild the program the regulators expect using OFAC's five-component Framework. Place the Sanctions Compliance Officer in the three-lines-of-defense model and learn to spot the governance gaps that turn ordinary breaches into enforcement cases.4 min read
  9. 09How Sanctions Evasion Works: Typologies and Red FlagsSanctioned parties never use their real names, so learn to detect the hiding. Get the four-part anatomy of evasion and the red-flag clusters that drive escalation, plus why complexity alone isn't evasion.4 min read
  10. 10Hiding Ownership and Control: Shells, Fronts, and IntermediariesSee through the favorite trick: a clean entity standing in for a blocked person. Tell shells, fronts, and nominees apart, apply the 50 Percent Rule to layered ownership chains, and know where OFAC's bright line differs from EU control-based tests.5 min read
  11. 11Trade- and Payment-Based Evasion: Vessels, Dual-Use, StrippingCatch evasion hidden in goods and money. Recognize AIS manipulation and ship-to-ship transfers, transshipment and dual-use diversion, and wire stripping, then connect each typology to the screening control that defeats it.5 min read
  12. 12Risk-Based Sanctions Due Diligence and the Risk AssessmentPut your effort where the risk is. Build a sanctions risk assessment across customers, products, geographies, and channels, separate inherent from residual risk, and learn how the assessment drives standard versus enhanced due diligence.4 min read
  13. 13Customer and Beneficial-Ownership Diligence for SanctionsGo beyond verifying identity to resolving who really owns and controls a customer. Practice the 50 Percent Rule aggregation the exam loves, use PEP and adverse-media signals, and learn why unresolvable ownership is itself a red flag.4 min read
  14. 14Geographic, Sectoral, and Trade-Finance DiligenceRead a trade transaction for sanctions risk hidden in routing, documents, vessels, and end-users. Assess country and transshipment risk, spot trade-finance red flags, and make end-user and end-use the decisive questions for dual-use goods.4 min read
  15. 15Third Parties, Correspondent Banking, and Nested RelationshipsManage the relationships that multiply your exposure. Run correspondent-banking due diligence, detect the hidden danger of nested accounts, and apply the rule that you can never outsource away your sanctions obligations.4 min read
  16. 16Screening Fundamentals: What, When, and Against Which ListsLearn the daily engine of sanctions compliance: what you screen, when (onboarding, ongoing, real-time), and against which lists. See why list currency and data quality decide whether your screening actually works.4 min read
  17. 17Name Screening and Matching Logic: Fuzzy Matching and ThresholdsOpen up the screening engine. Understand fuzzy and transliteration matching, the threshold trade-off between false positives and the dangerous false negative, and the above- and below-the-line testing that proves your tuning is safe.4 min read
  18. 18Payment and Transaction Screening: SWIFT, Stripping, Real-TimeScreen money in motion. Learn the SWIFT message fields you must cover, how wire stripping and cover payments defeat filters, and what to do, hold, then block or reject, when a payment filter fires under deadline pressure.5 min read
  19. 19Trade and Transaction Screening: Goods, Vessels, Dual-UseExtend screening into trade, where the prohibited element hides in documents. Screen goods and dual-use items, vessels and ports, and the true end-user, combining automated tools with the trained manual review trade demands.4 min read
  20. 20Alert Handling, Tuning, and Screening GovernanceTreat screening as both a workflow and a model. Master alert triage and disposition, above/below-the-line tuning and effectiveness testing, and the model-risk governance that keeps your screening system defensible.4 min read
  21. 21Investigating a Potential Sanctions HitTurn an alert into a defensible decision. Work an investigation step by step, distinguish a true match from a false positive on identifiers (not names), check ownership and context, and never release a held hit under pressure.5 min read
  22. 22Blocking, Rejecting, and Asset Freezing in PracticeAct correctly on a confirmed match. Nail the block-versus-reject distinction by asking whether a blocked person has an interest, and apply asset-freeze and no-making-available obligations across OFAC, UN, EU, and OFSI.4 min read
  23. 23Reporting, Licenses, and Regulator EngagementFinish the obligation after the freeze. Learn the reporting duties for blocks and rejects, when to seek a general or specific license, and how voluntary self-disclosure mitigates penalties when a real breach has occurred.5 min read
  24. 24Recordkeeping, Lessons Learned, and Continuous ImprovementClose the loop, not just the case. Meet recordkeeping and retention expectations, run root-cause analysis that separates symptom from systemic cause, and feed investigation outcomes back into screening tuning and the risk assessment.5 min read
  25. 25Exam Day: Strategy, Pitfalls, and Final ReviewConvert everything into an exam-day plan. Budget your time, read multi-regime stems for the controlling rule, avoid the high-frequency distractors (block vs. reject, 50 Percent Rule, sectoral traps), and run a domain-by-domain final self-check.5 min read

Get every CGSS lesson + the full question bank

Drop your email and we'll send new lessons and unlock the complete CGSS practice bank.

I'll email you when CGSS lessons drops. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms.

Or jump straight to CGSS practice questions →