In this lesson, we focus on entity risk — one of the core pillars of corporate CDD and KYB. You’ll learn how a company’s structure, history, and ownership can signal higher or lower AML risk long before transactions even begin.

We’ll walk through the key entity-level factors that affect transparency, including legal form, date of incorporation, ownership and control, and the use of nominee shareholders or directors. You’ll see why complex structures, layered ownership, and newly formed or reactivated entities often require closer scrutiny from a compliance perspective.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to assess how transparent a business really is, recognize common red flags linked to entity risk, and understand why unclear ownership and control remain one of the biggest vulnerabilities in financial crime prevention.

In this lesson, we examine industry risk and why the sector a company operates in can significantly influence its AML and CDD risk profile. You’ll learn how certain industries naturally create more exposure to money laundering due to the way they operate, the types of clients they attract, and how money flows through them.

We’ll focus on three core elements: the nature of the business activity, the types of clients served, and the source of funds and source of wealth. You’ll see why cash-intensive, high-value, or lightly regulated sectors often require enhanced scrutiny, and how a company’s customer base and funding patterns can either support or contradict its declared business model.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to identify higher-risk industries, understand where financial crime is most likely to hide, and apply a more targeted, risk-based approach to KYB and ongoing due diligence.

In this lesson, we explore product and service risk and how the financial products a company requests can significantly change its overall AML and CDD risk profile. You’ll learn why risk assessment goes beyond who the client is and must also consider what they plan to use — and for what purpose.

We’ll focus on four key elements: the purpose of the relationship, the products and services requested, the expected transaction profile, and the funding methods. You’ll see how mismatches between a company’s profile and its chosen products often reveal early warning signs of elevated risk.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to identify higher-risk products, assess whether requested services make sense for the business model, and understand how product choices can turn an otherwise low-risk client into a high-risk relationship.

In this lesson, we focus on geographic risk and how a company’s links to certain countries can significantly increase its AML and CDD exposure. You’ll learn why country risk goes beyond place of incorporation and must include where a business operates, where its clients are located, and where owners and directors are connected.

We’ll explain the key factors that drive geographic risk, including sanctions, corruption levels, offshore secrecy, criminal markets, terrorism exposure, and the strength of local AML and CFT frameworks. You’ll also see how international risk lists and country assessments are used in practice — and why they should be treated as starting points rather than final answers.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to assess geographic exposure in a structured way, understand how multiple country links compound risk, and apply enhanced due diligence where cross-border connections create higher vulnerability to financial crime.

In this lesson, we explore delivery channel risk and how the way a customer is onboarded can influence their overall AML and CDD risk profile. You’ll learn why risk assessment doesn’t stop at who the client is, but also depends on how identification and verification are performed.

We’ll compare face-to-face onboarding with non-face-to-face and remote channels, highlighting how reduced physical interaction can increase exposure to impersonation, document manipulation, and misrepresentation. You’ll also see why digital onboarding, while efficient and scalable, requires stronger controls to offset its inherent risks.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll understand how different delivery channels affect transparency and trust, recognize when enhanced safeguards are needed, and apply a more risk-based approach to onboarding and ongoing monitoring.

In this lesson, we bring together critical AML risk factors that don’t always fit neatly into standard categories but deserve special attention in real-world due diligence. You’ll learn why certain signals are assessed separately — not because they are rare, but because they often indicate elevated risk early on.

We’ll cover major red flags such as adverse media, Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), shell companies, bearer shares, and suspicious client behavior. You’ll also see why risk doesn’t end at onboarding, and how lifecycle and relationship changes — like sudden ownership shifts or unexplained activity — can quickly transform a low-risk client into a high-risk one.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll understand how to recognize reputational, behavioral, and structural warning signs, apply enhanced due diligence where needed, and appreciate why ongoing monitoring is essential to effective AML and CDD frameworks.

In this final lesson, we recap the core CDD and KYB risk factors covered throughout the course and bring them together into one practical framework,

You’ll revisit how entity structure, industry exposure, products, geography, delivery channels, third parties, and behavioral red flags interact — and why effective CDD is about connecting signals, spotting inconsistencies, and knowing when to escalate, not ticking boxes. This summary reinforces how to think like a compliance professional when assessing corporate risk.