<![CDATA[E-FOUR AND AAF - BLOG]]>Sat, 16 Nov 2024 08:55:56 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Balancing Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing Requirements and Financial Inclusion by Ehi Eric Esoimeme made it to the Best Banks Books of All Time]]>Sun, 16 Apr 2023 15:00:20 GMThttp://efour-aaf.com/blog/balancing-amlctf-requirements-and-financial-inclusion-made-it-to-the-best-banks-books-of-all-timeWe are happy to announce that "Balancing Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing Requirements and Financial Inclusion: The Case of Telecommunications Companies" by our managing partner, Ehi Eric Esoimeme, made it to BookAuthority's Best Banks Books of All Time: https://bookauthority.org/books/best-banks-books?t=w7q72l&s=award&book=9782787892

As featured on CNN, Forbes and Inc - BookAuthority collects and ranks the best books in the world, and it is a great honor to get this kind of recognition. Thank you for all your support!

The book is available for purchase on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/9782787892?tag=uuid10-20

You can also purchase other books by our managing partner here: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Ehi-Eric-Esoimeme/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AEhi+Eric+Esoimeme

]]><![CDATA[Congratulations to Ehi Eric Esoimeme  for being awarded with the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Financial Crimes]]>Mon, 16 May 2022 11:41:05 GMThttp://efour-aaf.com/blog/congratulations-to-ehi-eric-esoimeme-for-being-awarded-with-the-honorary-doctorate-degree-in-financial-crimesOn 11 May 2022, our managing partner, Ehi Eric Esoimeme Esq., LLB. BL., LLM., ICA., CAMC., CCO., CPRM., CRA., FGAFM., FCACC., FIMC., CMC. was awarded with the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Financial Crimes by the American University of Business and Social Sciences and the International Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Ehi’s skill and knowledge in the field of the financial crime space are drawn from his many years of experience as a researcher and consultant in anti-money laundering laws and policies, counter-fraud measures, and anti-corruption strategies. So far, Ehi has authored more than 50 publications, including eight books on financial crime compliance. Ehi’s second book titled “The Risk-Based Approach to Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing” was rated as the #5 best money laundering book of all time by Financial Expert in its 2021 refresh of the rankings. The book also became a bestseller on Amazon for banking law. Ehi received a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Lagos and holds a master’s degree in international banking law and anti-money laundering compliance from Cardiff University. A big congratulations to Dr. Ehi Eric Esoimeme Esq. for being awarded with the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Financial Crimes.
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#doctoratedegree #financialcrime #financialcrimecompliance #highereducation]]><![CDATA[E-FoUr and AAF gets full accreditation from QAHE]]>Sat, 07 May 2022 15:14:16 GMThttp://efour-aaf.com/blog/e-four-and-aaf-gets-full-accreditation-from-qaheWe are glad to announce that E-Four and AAF, a global consultancy firm that also offers training and education to financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions on financial crime compliance, has been granted full accreditation for its courses from International Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (QAHE) and features in its list of accredited institutions. QAHE is an expert in recognizing higher education institutions for research performances, student services and quality of teaching to value the confidence of the public along with supporting the development of quality assurance systems worldwide. 

We, at E-Four and AAF, are always committed to providing participants with the best possible learning experience and thus, continue to invest in both our facilities and our innovative approach towards education on financial crime compliance. 

QAHE’s accreditation eligibility criteria contain the five areas mentioned below for which E-Four and AAF underwent inspection of its internal quality assurance system and review of its study programs.
  • Academic Quality and Integrity
  • Teaching Staff Qualifications
  • Delivery of Programs
  • Students Services
  • Website Design and Performance

Moreover, to maintain its accreditation from QAHE, E-Four and AAF must enter the Continuous Perfection Evaluation process every year.

With an accreditation from an internationally acclaimed accreditation organization like QAHE, E-Four and AAF promises to ensure continuous enrichment of course delivery, teaching quality and research tasks to achieve and maintain its international standard in every aspect of providing training services to its students from across the globe.

Benefits of enrolling in an QAHE accredited program
Enrolling in an QAHE accredited program will provide the candidates with a competitive advantage in the field of financial crime compliance, all across the globe. The globally recognised accreditation will provide a strong boost to a candidate’s CV and  career in financial crime compliance thus enhancing their marketability and employment options. It is more of a separate, recognized qualification verifying that the candidate is skilled and competent in a range of areas.

Candidates having a QAHE accredited course certification will be recognised globally for the skills acquired and knowledge gained throughout the program.

Verification
Students enrolling at E-Four and AAF can verify E-Four and AAF's accreditation at QAHE’s home page under ‘SEARCH INSTITUTIONS’ by typing the name of our institution. https://www.qahe.org/ ]]><![CDATA[factors THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE to AN ineffective transaction monitoring system]]>Mon, 03 Jan 2022 21:47:41 GMThttp://efour-aaf.com/blog/factors-that-can-contribute-to-an-ineffective-transaction-monitoring-systemBy Ehi Eric Esoimeme, Managing Partner, Chief Trainer and Consultant at E-Four and AAF
Procedures for monitoring, detecting, and reporting suspicious activity should be effective. Banks are required to implement transaction monitoring procedures and file reports of suspicious activity with the Financial Intelligence Unit. Like other anti-money laundering filings, SARs play an important role in detecting possible criminal activity. Financial Intelligence Units and law enforcement agencies use SARs to investigate money laundering, terrorist financing, and other serious criminal activity.

Several factors can contribute to a Bank's ineffective transaction monitoring system. They include the following:
  1. The bank’s transaction monitoring system contained account opening information and customer risk profiles that were frequently incomplete, inaccurate, and lacked sufficient analysis and validation, and because of the incomplete and inaccurate information, when the bank’s automated transaction monitoring system generates alerts on certain customers, analysts in the compliance department may not be able to determine effectively when a change in those customers’ activities should have resulted in a change to those customers’ risk ratings.
  2. The anticipated account activity for some customers often does not match the actual transaction activity. This may result in the generation of an unmanageable number of alerts that includes large numbers of false positives.
  3. The AML monitoring system failed to capture critical information about foreign currency-denominated wires, such as sender and recipient information and the country of origin and destination.
  4. Manipulation of system output through use of alert caps on both profiling and query detection methods that could potentially result in missed suspicious activity reports and potential regulatory action resulting in fines, consent order, and significant historical review of transactions.
  5. Where the Bank lacks the staff needed to review the alerts that were generated relating to potentially suspicious activity. This may result in the Firm’s failure to adequately review certain cases of potentially suspicious activity triggered by its automated monitoring system and to make reasonable determinations whether or not to file suspicious activity reports (SARs). Inadequate staffing may lead to a significant backlog of alerts and decrease Bank ability to file SARs in a timely manner.
  6. Failure to adequately tailor the parameters and thresholds of the alerts generated by the system to match the high-risk activities it sought to identify and control.
  7. Failure to validate or independently test the system’s parameters and thresholds to reduce the number of false positive alerts the system generated.

The Certification Courses on Financial Crime Compliance by E-Four and AAF will discuss measures that are critical to preventing money laundering. These courses include:
• CFC - Certified in Financial Crimes and Fraud Prevention ™
• CAMC- Certified Anti-Money Laundering Consultant ™
• CDDP - Certified Due Diligence Professional ™
• CAMA - Certified Anti-Money Laundering Auditor ®
• CCO - Certified Compliance Officer ®
• CMRA - Certified Money Laundering Risk Consultant ®
• ChFI - Chartered Fraud Investigator ®

Benefits
• Successful completion of a GAFM ™ course makes you a Certified Professional in the relevant subject matter.
• You can use the assigned designation on your business card and resume
• Up to 22 months membership to the GAFM ™ professional body
• Access to the GAFM ™ network and body of information online
• Gold Embossed Certificate with your name and designation as MGAFM (Member of the Global Academy of Finance and Management)
• Free access to the E-Four and AAF digital financial newspaper for 1 year. This newspaper will be released 2 times in a year. First part will be released, June 2022.

Training Sessions
Each day will have two sessions. Session 1 will start from 10am and end at 12pm with a 1 hour break from 12pm to 1pm while Session 2 will begin from 1pm and end at 4pm,

Training Fee
The Training Fee for each of the Training Programmes is 1200 $US. There are discounts for group registration.

For more details, please find attached our Training Calendar for January and February, 2022.

Get course brochures at: https://efour-aaf.com/certified-training-courses-on-financial-crime-compliance.html

Kindly let us know which of the training programmes that you are interested in.  
]]><![CDATA[implementing compliance enhancements to continuously improve AML AND TRANSACTION monitoring programs]]>Thu, 16 Dec 2021 07:00:00 GMThttp://efour-aaf.com/blog/implementing-compliance-enhancements-to-continuously-improve-anti-money-laundering-programsBy Ehi Eric Esoimeme, Managing Partner, Consultant and Trainer at E-Four and AAF
Our banking system’s vulnerability to money laundering is once again a focal point of debate in the wake of the Financial Conduct Authority's report into HSBC that cites examples of poor controls, including failing to spot suspicious activity on the account of a construction director who also played a leading role in a criminal gang trying to steal millions of pounds by setting up fake companies.

For Financial institutions to adequately monitor and detect suspicious and prohibited activity, it is important that they implement compliance enhancements to continuously improve their AML and transaction monitoring programs through significant investments in AML staffing and technology, including:

• Enhanced Surveillance System: Financial institutions should upgrade their AML surveillance monitoring system across all of its separate business lines to an upgraded system. The new system should be able to provide enhanced grouping and alert features, thus strengthening the ability to monitor transactions between related accounts.

• Accountability: Financial institutions should enhance their oversight of AML monitoring and also implement back-testing protocols, which help enhance the quality of the alerts and reduce false positives.

• Alert Handling, Documentation, and Inventory Tracking: Financial institutions should enhance their minimum standards for alert handling, documentation and tracking. The enhancements should include, among other things, detailed written instructions on how to handle alerts, document a review, and escalate an alert through the proper personnel channels.

• Enhanced Training and Minimum Standards for Key AML Monitoring Staff: In order to enhance the quality of alert handling, financial institutions should set minimum experience requirements for its AML monitoring staff and provide them extensive training. E-Four and AAF is an Accredited Training Provider for the Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM) and the American Academy of Project Management (AAPM) certification programs. With this partnership, E-Four and AAF offers various GAFM® and AAPM ® certifications in conjunction with its existing/relevant training programmes and courses. GAFM® and AAPM ® courses are TUV Accredited, ISO 9001 Accredited, ISO 29990 Accredited, AABFS Accredited, CHEA Standards, EU Compliant Level VII, and ACBSP Articulation Awarded Credential. Currently, E-Four and AAF offers the following GAFM® and AAPM ® certifications:

• CFC Certified in Financial Crimes and Fraud Prevention™
• CAMC Certified Anti-Money Laundering Consultant ®
• CDDP – Certified Due Diligence Professional
• CAMA – Certified Anti-Money Laundering Auditor™
• CCO Certified Compliance Officer ™
• CMRA Certified Money Laundering Risk Analyst ®
• ChFI Chartered Fraud Investigator ™

E-Four and AAF also offers the following training courses with the Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM):
  1. Identifying and reducing the risks associated with senior political figures, often referred to as “politically exposed persons” (PEP).
  2. Recognizing and mitigating the risks associated with cash-intensive businesses and entities.
  3. Managing the risks associated with transactions involving domestic and foreign business entities.
  4. Managing the potential risks associated with relationships with third-party entities that process payments for telemarketers, online businesses, and other merchants (collectively "merchants").
  5. Managing the risks associated with transactions involving accounts held by nonresident aliens (NRA) and foreign individuals
  6. Recognizing and mitigating the risks associated with Money services businesses (MSB).
  7. Managing the risks associated with accounts of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and charities
  8. Managing the risks associated with offering domestic correspondent account relationships
  9. Managing the risks associated with foreign correspondent banking
  10. Managing the risks associated with private banking relationships for both domestic and international customers.
  11. Managing the risks associated with payable through accounts (PTA)
  12. Managing the risks associated with trust and asset management services
  13. Managing the risks associated with trade finance activities
  14. Recognizing and mitigating the risks associated with professional service provider relationships
  15. Managing the risks associated with privately owned automated teller machines (ATM) and Independent Sales Organization (ISO) relationships
  16. Managing the risks associated with prepaid access products
  17. Managing the risks associated with electronic banking (e-banking) customers, including Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) activity
Upon successful completion of any of this training programmes, the participants will receive a Certificate of Participation with assigned CDP Points from the Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM).

• Quality Assurance: Financial institutions should assess the quality of the AML monitoring analysts’ work and substantive accuracy of the disposition of the alert under their quality assurance system. Findings should be reported monthly to designated senior officers.
]]><![CDATA[Compliance Interview Series with Ehi]]>Sun, 23 May 2021 18:39:41 GMThttp://efour-aaf.com/blog/compliance-interview-series-with-ehiHi everyone. Ehi Eric Esoimeme's interview with Sanction Scanner (an anti-money laundering solutions provider aimed to provide cost-efficient AML solutions that can be used by all-size businesses) was published a few days ago as part of their Compliance Interview Series. In this interview, Ehi discussed the latest AML trends, and the Policies, Procedures, and Internal Controls that can help identify and reduce money laundering risks and vulnerabilities in the financial system. One of the AML trends he discussed is where virtual currency exchangers and bitcoin mixers conspire with criminals, and cybercriminals in particular, using virtual currencies to process the proceeds of their illicit activity. Instead of directly transmitting bitcoin between two bitcoin addresses, the mixer disassociates connections in a manner designed to conceal and obfuscate the source or owner of the bitcoin. Kindly read the full interview using the link provided: https://sanctionscanner.com/interviews/ehi-eric-esoimeme  Thank You and God Bless You. ]]><![CDATA[Top 5 Money Laundering Books for 2021]]>Sun, 23 May 2021 18:21:52 GMThttp://efour-aaf.com/blog/ehi-eric-esoimemes-second-book-rated-the-5-best-money-laundering-book-of-all-timeCRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR THE RISK-BASED APPROACH TO COMBATING MONEY LAUNDERING 
Hi everyone. Financial Expert has rated Ehi Eric Esoimeme's second book entitled "The Risk-Based Approach to Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing" as the 5th best money laundering book of all time in its 2021 refresh of the rankings. Financial Expert reached out to Ehi Eric Esoimeme after the ranking was announced, to share some insights into his money laundering book, and provide some advice to other financial writers out there. Please find Ehi's responses to the interview questions using the link provided below: https://www.financial-expert.co.uk/author-interview-ehi-eric-esoimeme/ ]]><![CDATA[EXPECTED CHANGES IN AML AFTER COVID-19]]>Sat, 18 Jul 2020 13:49:37 GMThttp://efour-aaf.com/blog/new-e-book-expected-changes-in-aml-after-covid-19Never been done before. A book with 12 anti-money laundering experts as co-authors entitled "Expected Changes in AML After Covid-19." This is my 7th book. When Sanction Scanner reached out to me I saw it as a blessing and privilege to deliver so I wrote like it was my first book. Mama was still around then. She will be very proud and happy for me as always. She was my biggest fan and always prayed for my success. We are not slowing down. This is just the beginning. Read and download the full e-book here: https://sanctionscanner.com/Static/Ebooks/Expected-Changes-in-AML-after-COVID-19.pdf ]]>