Good questions make better controls.
A short, plain-English primer for owners and teams who want to understand the work before they begin it.
These answers are educational and general in nature. Your obligations depend on your business and the rules that apply to it.
What is AML?
AML means anti-money laundering. It is the set of measures a business uses to understand who it is dealing with, identify suspicious activity and reduce the risk that its services are misused for money laundering. The exact obligations depend on your business, customers, services and jurisdiction.
What does CTF mean?
CTF refers to counter-terrorism financing. Like AML, it focuses on identifying and reducing the risk that products, services or funds are used to support terrorist activity. It is commonly considered alongside AML in a broader financial crime framework.
What is KYC and why does it matter?
KYC — know your customer — is the practical process of identifying and understanding a customer. A thoughtful KYC workflow supports good decisions at onboarding and throughout the relationship; it is more than collecting an identity document.
What is the difference between CDD and EDD?
Customer due diligence (CDD) is the standard level of understanding you build about a customer and their risk. Enhanced due diligence (EDD) is additional, proportionate work for higher-risk situations, such as gathering more information, obtaining approval or increasing monitoring.
Do small businesses really need an AML program?
Requirements vary by sector and jurisdiction, so there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Where obligations apply, size does not remove the need for a proportionate approach. Even where a formal program is not required, understanding financial crime risk can be good governance.
What does audit-ready actually look like?
It means you can explain your approach, show who owns each control and produce evidence of the decisions you have made. It does not mean having the longest policy. It means your program is current, understood and connected to the work.
Can AML Ops Consulting provide legal advice?
We provide practical operational and educational support, not legal advice. We can help you translate obligations into workflows and controls, and we will flag when a matter needs a qualified legal or regulatory specialist.