CAMS syllabus 2026: courses, modules and what the study guide covers

Since July 2025, CAMS is built as a modular learning path. Everything on the exam comes from it, so knowing its structure helps you plan. Here's what each part covers, based on ACAMS's published programme description.

The four core courses (= the four exam domains)

1. Understanding risks and methods of financial crime (30% of the exam)

• Money laundering stages (placement, layering, integration) and common methods: structuring, trade-based laundering, shell and front companies, loan-back, cuckoo smurfing
• Terrorist financing and proliferation financing and how they differ from laundering
• Predicate crimes: fraud, corruption, tax evasion, human trafficking, drug trafficking, cybercrime
• High-risk products, services and channels: correspondent banking, trade finance, private banking, cash-intensive businesses, real estate, casinos, virtual assets, payment services
• Red flags by sector

2. Global AFC frameworks, governance and regulations (20%)

• FATF: the 40 Recommendations, mutual evaluations, grey and black lists
• Other international bodies: Egmont Group, Wolfsberg Group, Basel Committee, UN conventions
• Major national and regional regimes: US (BSA, PATRIOT Act, AMLA 2020, FinCEN), EU (AML Regulation, AMLD6, AMLA), UK
• Sanctions basics: UN, OFAC, EU, UK regimes
• Governance: the role of boards, senior management and the compliance function

3. Building an AFC compliance programme (30%)

• Enterprise-wide risk assessment: inherent risk, controls, residual risk
• Customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, PEPs, beneficial ownership
• Policies and procedures, the compliance officer, training, independent testing
• Culture of compliance, record keeping, reporting obligations (SAR/STR, CTR)
• Responding to regulators and remediating findings

4. Tools and technologies to fight financial crime (20%)

• Transaction monitoring: scenarios, thresholds, tuning, below-the-line testing
• Sanctions and PEP screening, fuzzy matching, alert handling
• Investigations: following the money, case files, information sharing (e.g. 314(b)), law enforcement requests
• Data, analytics and emerging technology (including AI) and model risk

Electives (one of each, included)

• Sector: retail and commercial banking, money services businesses, payment service providers, virtual asset service providers (more sectors such as gaming and private banking announced).
• Jurisdiction: US, UK, EU or Canada (more announced, including the UAE).

Pick the jurisdiction you work in. The exam itself is international; your elective deepens your local knowledge.

The other materials

• Study guide (PDF) and flashcards: the reference text and recall drills.
• Exam simulator with more than 1,000 questions and progress tracking.
• Virtual Classroom (optional, paid add-on): live online sessions.

How to use this structure

Study the courses in the order above and practise each domain straight after its course. Spend the most time on domains 1 and 3 (60% of the exam together). Use our CAMS practice questions, which are scored by these four domains, to see where you stand.

Independent guide, not affiliated with ACAMS. Facts checked November 2026; always confirm on the official website.