38 ACAMS TODAY | DecemberFebruary 2010 www.ACAMS.

org
O
ne of the basic pillars of a strong
anti-money laundering (AML) pro-
gram for any nancial institution
depends on a well designed and effective
transaction monitoring system. The basic
purpose of having a strong AML transac-
tion monitoring system is to identify and
protect the institution from any transac-
tions that may lead to money laundering
and terrorist nancing and that will also
enable the monitoring units to identify
related risks and le relevant Suspicious
Activity Reports (SARs) with the appropri-
ate regulatory authorities.
Many financial institutions across the
globe are using manually designed AML
transaction monitoring reports/alerts, but
with the advancement of IT Technologies,
there are a number of automated AML
transaction monitoring solution providers
available in the market that give you the
option of purchasing complete AML packages
including sanctions/black list screenings,
customer proling, comprehensive transac-
tion monitoring with reports/alerts etc.
A key component of a sound AML trans-
action monitoring system are solid AML
transaction monitoring reports/alerts.
There could be a number of AML transac-
tion monitoring reports/alerts designed
through the rules dened in the systems
according to the requirements of nan-
cial institutions. This article will discuss
basic AML transactions reports/alerts
for manual/electronic AML transaction
monitoring systems. The basic required
elements that will be discussed are an
essential part of transaction monitoring.
Basic reports/alerts
1. Cash deposits above and below the
threshold
2. Cash withdrawals above and below the
threshold
3. Weekly and monthly cash deposits and
withdrawals
4. Incoming wire transfers above and
below the threshold
5. Outgoing wire transfers above and below
the threshold
6. Internal transfers above and below the
threshold
7. Instruments deposits above and below
the threshold
8. Check withdrawal report above and
below the threshold
9. Other reports

PRACTI CAL SOLUTI ONS
Basics about AML transaction
monitoring reports and alerts
Sample reports with required content
CASh DEPoSitS ABoVE AnD BElow thE thRESholD (CREDitS)
S.NO Transaction Date Account No Title of Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction Type
Transaction
Amount
Narration Teller ID Account Balance Last Deposit
S.NO Transaction Date Account No Title of Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction Type
Transaction
Amount
Narration Teller ID Account Balance Last Withdrawal
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be daily. It should include all credit transactions for any single customer and the threshold would depend on the requirements in
each country. The report must also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.

CASh withDRAwAlS ABoVE AnD BElow thE thRESholD (DEBitS)
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be daily. It should include all debit transactions by any single customer. The threshold would depend on
the requirements in each country. The report must also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.
DecemberFebruary 2010 | ACAMS TODAY 39 www.ACAMS.org
PRACTI CAL SOLUTI ONS
wEEklY AnD MonthlY CASh DEPoSitS (CREDitS)
S.NO Transaction Date Account No Title of Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction Type
Transaction
Amount
Narration Teller ID Account Balance
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be weekly and monthly. It should include all credit transactions for any single customer during the week/month. The report must
also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.

wEEklY AnD MonthlY CASh withDRAwAlS (DEBitS)
S.NO Transaction Date Account No Title of Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction Type
Transaction
Amount
Narration Teller ID Account Balance
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be weekly and monthly. It should include all debit transactions by any single customer during the week/month. The report must
also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.
inCoMinG wiRE tRAnSFER ABoVE AnD BElow thE thRESholD (CREDitS)
S.NO
Transaction
Date
Account No
Title of
Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction
Amount
Transaction
Type
Narration
Staff Posting
ID
Account
Balance
Last Wire
Trf Cr
Purpose
Remitter
Name
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be daily, weekly and monthly. It should include all credit transactions for any single customer. The threshold would depend on
the requirements in each country. The report must also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.
oUtGoinG wiRE tRAnSFER ABoVE AnD BElow thE thRESholD (DEBitS)
S.NO
Transaction
Date
Account No
Title of
Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction
Amount
Transaction
Type
Narration
Staff Posting
ID
Account
Balance
Last Wire
Trf Dr
Purpose
Benefciary
Name
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be daily, weekly and monthly. It should include all credit transactions for any single customer. The threshold would depend on the
requirements in each country. The report must also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.
intERnAl tRAnSFERS ABoVE AnD BElow thE thRESholD (DEBitS)
S.NO
Transaction
Date
Account No
Title of
Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction
Type
Transaction
Amount
Narration
Staff Posting
ID
Account
Balance
Cr Customer
Account No
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be weekly and monthly. It should include all debit transactions for any single customer. The threshold would depend on the
requirements in each country. The report must also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.
intERnAl tRAnSFERS ABoVE AnD BElow thE thRESholD (CREDitS)
S.NO Transaction Date Account No Title of Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction Type
Transaction
Amount
Narration Staff Posting ID Account Balance
Dr Customer
Account No
S.NO Transaction Date Account No Title of Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction Type
Transaction
Amount
Narration Staff Posting ID Account Balance
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be weekly and monthly. It should include all credit transactions for any single customer. The threshold would depend on the
requirements in each country. The report must also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.
inStRUMEntS DEPoSitS ABoVE AnD BElow thE thRESholD (CREDitS)
S.NO Transaction Date Account No Title of Account
Transaction
Reference
Transaction Type
Transaction
Amount
Narration Staff Posting ID Account Balance
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be weekly and monthly. It should include all type of instrument credit transactions for any single customer. The threshold would
depend on the requirements in each country. The report must also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.
ChECk withDRAwAlS ABoVE AnD BElow thE thRESholD (DEBitS)
Criteria: The criteria for this report should be weekly and monthly. It should include all debit transactions for any single customer. The threshold would depend on the
requirements in each country. The report must also indicate the total number of customer transactions and the total number of report transactions.
Other reports
Other reports/alerts may include product
reports according to specic requirements,
transactions involving high-risk countries,
staff transaction reports, reports related to
multiple transactions for and by the cus-
tomer, alerts related to any other credits,
reports related to treasury and investments/
trade nance/credit facilities/correspon-
dent banking etc. The threshold would be
according to country requirements. In addi-
tion, a small customer account snapshot
with these alerts, transaction sanctions
screening and proper disposition with com-
ments by the monitoring units would make
it a combination of effective AML transac-
tion monitoring processes.
Conclusion
We learned the basic AML transaction
monitoring alerts/reports dening the con-
tents and criteria. It should always be kept
in mind that the success of any AML trans-
action monitoring system is dependent on
strong transaction monitoring alerts that
are designed according to specic rules and
requirements of controlling units. The cri-
teria mentioned above may be according to
requirements of the nancial institutions.
AML transaction monitoring alerts/reports
can only be up to the required standards
for curbing money laundering and terrorist
nancing if nancial institutions design
the alerts comprehensively covering all
areas of transactions, keeping an updated
database of customer proles, hire qualied
staff with relevant experience analyzing
the transactions.
Ghaus Bin Ikram, CAMS, ACFE, AML
manager, Doha Bank, Doha Qatar, ghausi-
kram@gmail.com
The views expressed here are the authors
and not those of Doha Bank.