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FinCrime Institute

AML TERMS AND TYPOLOGIES REFERENCE

New to AML? Start With the Terms, Frameworks and Roles That Run It

A plain-language primer for your first weeks in financial crime compliance.
  • Grounded in FATF, FinCEN/BSA and OFAC
  • Current as of October 2026, with AMLR and AMLA ahead
  • Doubles as a glossary you return to
The AML Terms and Typologies Reference

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You just started in compliance, and everyone assumes you already know how the whole system fits together

Your first weeks in an AML or financial crime role move fast. You are expected to use precise terminology that connects to real legal obligations, but most reference material is either academic or buried in primary sources. Those gaps tend to surface in weak SARs and examination findings. This 28-page reference gives you a grounding in how anti-money laundering actually works, who owns it inside a financial institution, and where the rules come from.

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What is inside the 28-page reference

How standards flow: FATF into FinCEN and the Bank Secrecy Act, and FATF into EU AMLR, AMLA and national law
The bodies you will meet: FATF, FinCEN, OFAC, the EBA and the FATF-Style Regional Bodies
Core concepts every term builds on: the three stages, predicate offense, CDD and EDD, and the SAR
Program roles: the AMLCO, MLRO, BSA Officer and the Three Lines of Defense
Policies versus procedures versus controls, independent testing and the firm-wide risk assessment
What is changing: the EU AML Regulation applying from 2027 and AMLA supervision from 2028

What changes once you have read it

You can explain any term in its regulatory context

Every definition connects the word to the legal obligation behind it, so you know why a control exists, not just what it is called.

You write SARs that articulate the suspected predicate

Worked income-to-activity and narrative examples show how to turn vague transaction descriptions into reports law enforcement can use.

You recognise typologies in live account data

Red-flag lists and an at-a-glance typology table help you tell an alarming retail pattern from an expected wholesale one.

You escalate at the right moments

Knowing the thresholds, deadlines and roles means you act within the SAR clock and route decisions to the right owner.

The figures and thresholds it pins down

30 / 60 days
SAR filing deadline from initial detection, or 60 days when no suspect can be identified
25%
Beneficial ownership threshold under FinCEN's CDD Rule (31 CFR 1010.230)
50%
Ownership that triggers the OFAC 50 Percent Rule, even for entities not named on any list
10 business days
Deadline to report blocked assets to OFAC
90%
False-positive rate frequently reported in untuned screening systems
Oct 2026
Information is current as of this date, with AMLR applying 2027 and AMLA supervision from 2028

Grounded in the actual sources, not opinion

Cites primary law

The Bank Secrecy Act, Money Laundering Control Act (18 U.S.C. 1956 and 1957), 31 U.S.C. 5324 and 5316, 31 CFR 1010.230 and 1020.320.

References named frameworks and bodies

The FATF 40 Recommendations, FinCEN, the OFAC SDN List, the EBA and FSRBs including MONEYVAL, GAFILAT, APG and ESAAMLG.

States its currency explicitly

Reflects information as of October 2026, with jurisdictional caveats to confirm against primary sources.

Common questions

Yes. It is written for staff whose remit now touches financial crime compliance for the first time, as well as those new to AML entirely. It gives you the regulatory language your program is built on without re-teaching what you already do.

THE AML TERMS AND TYPOLOGIES REFERENCE

Get the lay of the land, fast

A plain-language grounding in how AML works, who owns it, and where the rules come from. Instant access, straight to your inbox.