The ISFB is launching a new expert-level certification focused on the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) for compliance officers

October 26, 2026

Given the growing complexity of the fight against money laundering, banks expect compliance professionals to have increasingly specialized expertise. To meet the needs expressed by financial institutions, the ISFB is launching its new Senior Compliance Officer – Advanced AMLA Certificate, an expert-level program focused on practical application and decision-making.

Taulant Avdija, program director, outlines the goals of this new certification and the skills it aims to strengthen among professionals who deal with the most complex anti-money laundering situations on a daily basis.

Why is the ISFB launching a Senior Compliance Officer Certificate today that focuses on the Federal Act on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AMLA)?

Because the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) has become far more complex than it was ten years ago. Successive revisions to the law, international pressure, the transparency registry, sanctions, constant enforcement pressure, and the introduction of artificial intelligence in monitoring have multiplied the questions a compliance officer must address—often without clear answers in the text of the law. In this current version of the AMLA, three things have become key: understanding what you’re doing and why, maintaining a critical mindset toward tools and procedures, and documenting your decisions so that you can defend them. The ISFB Compliance Officer Certificate, in which I teach, provides an excellent overview of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (LBA) in four hours, and that is precisely its role within a generalist curriculum. However, the local banks that support the ISFB have let us know that they were seeking an additional level of training, dedicated solely to this subject, for those who work with it on a daily basis. This certificate meets that need.

In what way does this new certification serve as a logical next step after the ISFB Compliance Officer Certification, and what additional value does it offer to someone who has already completed that initial program?

The first certificate provides the fundamentals of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) within the broader context of the compliance function. The new certificate builds on these fundamentals and applies them to real-world cases.

It offers three additional elements. First, governance: how a bank builds its risk model based on its risk analysis, and how the Anti-Money Laundering Act (LBA) fits into its strategy. This is an aspect not covered in a generalist curriculum. Next, hands-on experience with complex cases—from onboarding through enforcement—with ample time to dissect them and learn how to challenge them. Finally, there’s the perspective of practitioners from local banks and the supervisory authority, who share what they actually see in their cases. For someone who has completed the first certificate, this is the natural next step in their journey.

What are the most complex AMLA situations today that an experienced compliance officer must be able to handle, and how does the program specifically prepare participants to address them?

I would cite four situations. First, complex structures: trusts, foundations, multi-tiered corporations, and investment vehicles. For a long time, these were described rather than understood. We would fill out a form, reproduce the organizational chart provided by the client, and the file was considered documented. Today, that is no longer enough: we must understand who is actually in control, where the money comes from, and why the structure exists. Understanding has become essential. Next is the handling of monitoring hits, where we must quickly decide whether a transaction is justifiable or whether it must be reported to MROS, with the consequences that entails for the client relationship. Then there are sanctions, which have taken on considerable importance since 2022 and require a level of responsiveness that few institutions had anticipated. And finally, enforcement: how to respond when FINMA or an auditor identifies violations, and how to avoid reaching that point in the first place.

The program is structured in this chronological order, from onboarding to enforcement. Each module draws on concrete, real-world examples provided by speakers who experience these situations firsthand in their own institutions. We have intentionally minimized the theoretical component. The final module is entirely devoted to a comprehensive case study that participants solve together, drawing on everything they have learned in the previous modules.

Why did you choose a short, intensive four-day program—with certification and an exam—rather than a longer continuing education course?

Because the target audience consists of working professionals who have cases to manage and little time to spare. A condensed format makes it possible to maintain continuity from one module to the next and to approach the integrative case study with all the content still fresh in mind. Eight four-hour modules is also the format that allows us to bring together high-level speakers who would not be able to commit to a program spread out over a year. In-person learning is important to us: the LBA involves discussion and debate, and the exchanges among participants from different institutions are part of the program’s value. The written exam, for its part, is not a mere formality. It gives the certificate its value in the job market: an employer needs to know that the person holding this credential has demonstrated the ability to reason through a complex case, not just that they attended the classes.

To what type of professional would you particularly recommend this certificate, and upon completion of the program, what additional skills should they be able to apply in their daily practice?

I’m thinking first and foremost of those who have completed the ISFB Compliance Officer Certificate program: they have the fundamentals, they’re familiar with the organization, and this new certificate is a natural next step in their career path. More broadly, it’s intended for anyone who applies the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) on a daily basis and already has several years of experience in this field. This naturally includes compliance officers and members of AML or investigative teams, but also front-office staff and business risk managers—who are on the front lines of client relations and make AML-related decisions every day—as well as legal counsel, risk managers, and internal (and external) auditors who deal with these issues. Prior experience with the Anti-Money Laundering Act is important, as the program assumes that participants already have a solid foundation in the subject matter. For an institution, this is an opportunity to send staff members from different lines of defense who are responsible for these issues and to equip them with a common language and set of reflexes.

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Taulant Avdija,

ISFB Program Director

The revision of the law, the transparency registry, penalties, constant pressure regarding enforcement, and the introduction of artificial intelligence in monitoring have multiplied the number of questions a compliance officer must address.

Taulant Avdija, ISFB Program Director