CISA
1 CPD point
3 modules
NOTE
This course is designed for lower-risk employees of accountable institutions, or organisations that are not accountable institutions but would like to provide practical FICA awareness. It can be customised to reflect the parts of your approved RMCP that apply to them, together with relevant procedures, red flags, reporting channels, escalation contacts and workplace examples.
Accountable institutions should consider FICA for Accountable Institutions as a starting point.
overview
FICA training should match the employee’s role
Provide your low-risk, non-operational staff with an online baseline introduction to financial crime. This practical FICA awareness training ensures that supporting employees who do not manage client onboarding or compliance profiles can recognise transaction red flags, protect records, and escalate suspicious activity through the correct internal channels.
Lower-risk employees need a clear basis for recognising when their work touches FICA: why client information matters, what unusual or suspicious activity may look like, why records must be protected, and when to escalate a concern. FICA training duties carry regulatory consequences, and failures in employee training have formed part of administrative enforcement actions taken by supervisory bodies under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.
The course
Know the basics and when to escalate
The course explains money laundering and terrorist financing in plain language, how illicit funds can move through legitimate activity, the purpose of FICA, the role of the Financial Intelligence Centre and the consequences of non-compliance.
It introduces accountable institutions, basic Know Your Client (KYC)requirements, recordkeeping duties, suspicious transactions and the reporting framework. Scenario-based examples help lower-risk employees connect those requirements to client information, unusual activity, missing records and concerns that should be raised through the correct internal route.
Role-appropriate awareness
A lower-risk employee does not need to run the RMCP. They do need to know when their work touches it.
Choosing the right course
Awareness for lower-risk roles. Deeper training for FICA functions.
FICA Awareness gives employees a baseline understanding of the purpose of the controls, their basic obligations, and when to escalate. It does not train employees to design or manage the institution’s risk-based approach or RMCP.
FICA for Accountable Institutions goes further. It covers the risk-based approach, RMCP requirements, FICA governance, customer due diligence, risk profiling, verification, source of funds, recordkeeping and regulatory reporting in more depth. The institution’s approved RMCP can be incorporated so that employees with relevant responsibilities are trained on the details they are expected to follow.
| FICA Awareness | FICA for Accountable Institutions | |
|---|---|---|
| Target audience | Low-risk staff at accountable institutions or employees at non-accountable organisations. | Personnel at high-risk accountable institutions, including high-value goods dealers. |
| Customisable with client RMCP | Optional (dependent on client preference) | Optional (dependent on client preference) |
| Core CDD & KYC coverage | Baseline introduction | Standard depth (more comprehensive) |
| FPI CPD points | 1 CPD Point | 3 CPD Points |
| Online & LMS deployment | Online via SCORM or ELLO | Online via SCORM or ELLO |
Give lower-risk employees enough FICA awareness to recognise and escalate what matters.
Got questions? Start here.
Who should complete this FICA Awareness course?
The course is intended for lower-risk employees of accountable institutions who may encounter client information, payments, records, unusual behaviour or concerns that should be escalated, but who do not perform specialist FICA compliance functions.
Does the standard course cover our RMCP?
No. The standard course introduces the FICA compliance framework but does not explain how to design, maintain or operate an institution’s RMCP. It can be customised to reflect the approved RMCP provisions, procedures, and escalation routes for the intended employee group.
How does this differ from FICA for Accountable Institutions?
FICA Awareness provides a practical baseline in money laundering, terrorist financing, KYC, records, and reporting. FICA for Accountable Institutions covers the risk-based approach, RMCP, governance and detailed customer due diligence and reporting responsibilities for employees whose roles require greater depth.
Can the course be customised for our institution?
Yes. It can incorporate your institution’s approved RMCP provisions, relevant red flags, terminology, reporting channels, escalation contacts and examples. The level of customisation should match what the intended employees are expected to do.
Can the training form part of our FICA compliance record?
Yes, where the chosen delivery route records assignment, completion or assessment. That record can help the institution show who received the awareness and what they completed. It does not, by itself, prove that the institution has complied with section 43 or that employees will apply the RMCP correctly.
Does the course cover customer due diligence?
This course can introduce customer due diligence at a basic awareness level, including why client information and verification matter. Employees who perform or supervise CDD need the fuller treatment provided in FICA for Accountable Institutions and any role-specific procedures in the institution’s RMCP.
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