FCA guidance on Training for MLROs and Heads of Compliance – Financial Crime Diploma

On Friday 28 January 2022, the FCA published guidance on its website for ‘Heads of Compliance and MLRO applicant competency and capability’. The guidance can be found here. There is a clear reference to the importance of Training that is expected for people already in or moving to these roles.  

As you may be aware, the AFB offers the AFB Financial Crime Compliance (AML) Diploma to members to assist their training in this area. The course brochure can be found here. The 2022 Diploma course starts very shortly and will run from March 2022 onwards.

We wanted to outline how this training course fulfils guidance from the FCA. The FCA states that courses should be “tailored or relevant” be “up-to-date to provide relevant knowledge of the current regulatory rules and expectations” and be “with sufficient length and depth to gain knowledge to carry out the role”.  They also state that “we have found courses with an examination or assessment are better in demonstrating that an individual has gained relevant knowledge”.

The AFB Diploma course has been designed exclusively for AFB members and where required it is updated before each module. The course contains ten full-day modules that encompass the full range of financial crime topics that are relevant to the MLRO of a UK regulated bank. Each module is individually assessed and successful delegates are awarded the AFB Diploma in association with the University of Gloucestershire.