Anti money laundering training online in the UK: where to train and what employers look for

What employers look for in an online anti money laundering certificate

Your firm decides what anti money laundering training you need. The training duty is in regulation 24 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, and it applies to relevant persons: the businesses the Regulations cover, such as credit and financial institutions, auditors, accountants, tax advisers, legal professionals, trust or company service providers, estate and letting agents, high value dealers, casinos, art market participants and cryptoasset businesses. Each must take appropriate measures to make sure its relevant employees, the staff whose work is relevant to compliance or who could help spot or prevent money laundering, are made aware of the law on money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing and are regularly given training in how to recognise and deal with suspicious transactions and situations. It must keep a written record of those measures, and what is appropriate depends on the nature and size of the business. Outside those sectors there is no training duty in the Regulations, but the principal offences in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 apply to everyone, so training is still good practice for anyone who takes payments or onboards customers. When a firm or its supervisor checks a training record, they usually look for:

• Content that follows the law. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, the Terrorism Act 2000 and the National Crime Agency's guidance on Suspicious Activity Reports.
• A clear, dated record. Regulation 24 asks firms to keep a written record of the training given, so the certificate should show the course name, hours of learning and completion date, with a way to confirm it.
• What staff need to recognise and deal with suspicion. The three stages of money laundering, customer due diligence and enhanced checks, the red flags of suspicious activity, making an internal report to the nominated officer, and not tipping off.
• A refresh date. The Regulations say training must be regular but do not fix an interval. Most supervisors and professional bodies expect it at induction and at least every year, and firms are asked to show the dates.

Lift College's certificate does each of these. It records Anti Money Laundering Training, 2 hours of learning, your completion date and a recommended refresh date 12 months on, with a unique certificate number and a verification link. The course does not write your firm-wide risk assessment or policies, and it does not cover the specific guidance of each supervisor or professional body in depth. Your nominated officer remains responsible for the firm's controls and for deciding whether to send a Suspicious Activity Report, and your firm decides whether a role needs more.

What the Lift College course covers

There are 6 short modules, each with a knowledge check, then a final test with an 80% pass mark and unlimited free retakes.

1. What money laundering is. The three stages of placement, layering and integration with worked examples, how terrorist financing differs, the crimes behind the money, the harm it does, and why cash businesses, property, company formation and professional services attract launderers.
2. The law and the penalties. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 offences of concealing, arranging and acquiring criminal property, failing to disclose and tipping off, the Terrorism Act 2000, the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and the sentences, fines and supervisory action that follow a breach.
3. The businesses the law covers and your organisation's controls. Who the Regulations cover, the supervisors including the FCA, HMRC, the Gambling Commission and the professional bodies, the firm-wide risk assessment, written policies and procedures, the nominated officer, staff training, record keeping for five years and senior management responsibility.
4. Knowing your customer. Customer due diligence, verifying identity with documents and electronic checks, identifying beneficial owners, simplified and enhanced due diligence, politically exposed persons, high risk countries, sanctions screening and ongoing monitoring of the relationship.
5. Red flags of suspicious activity. Large or structured cash payments, reluctance to provide identification, complex or opaque ownership, transactions that do not fit the customer, third party payments, overpayments and refund requests, unusual urgency, links to high risk jurisdictions and what to do when something does not add up.
6. Reporting a suspicion. Knowledge, suspicion and reasonable grounds, making an internal report to the nominated officer, Suspicious Activity Reports to the National Crime Agency, requesting a defence against money laundering and the notice period, not tipping off, keeping the customer relationship normal, and recording what you did.

By the end you can explain money laundering and terrorist financing and the placement, layering and integration stages, identify the principal offences and penalties, describe who the 2017 Regulations apply to and what they require, carry out customer due diligence and recognise when enhanced due diligence applies, spot the red flags in customers, transactions and payments, report a suspicion to your nominated officer, avoid failing to disclose and tipping off, and describe the records a business must keep and for how long.

The law and guidance it is written around

• Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (UK). Part 7 creates the principal money laundering offences of concealing, arranging and acquiring, using or possessing criminal property, which anyone can commit and which carry up to 14 years in prison. It also creates the offences of failing to disclose a suspicion and tipping off, which apply to people working in the sectors the anti money laundering rules cover.
• Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (UK). Apply to credit and financial institutions, auditors, accountants, tax advisers, legal professionals, trust or company service providers, estate and letting agents, high value dealers, casinos, art market participants and cryptoasset businesses. They require a written risk assessment, policies and controls, a nominated officer, customer due diligence, record keeping and regular staff training on the law and how to recognise and deal with suspicious transactions.
• Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 24: training (UK). The training duty itself. A relevant person must take appropriate measures to make sure its relevant employees, and relevant agents, are made aware of the law on money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing and of the data protection requirements that apply, are regularly given training in how to recognise and deal with transactions and other activities or situations that may be related to it, and must keep a written record of what it did. The measures take account of the nature and size of the business.
• Terrorism Act 2000 (UK). Makes it an offence to raise, use, possess or arrange funds for the purposes of terrorism, or to launder terrorist property, and places a duty on people in business and in the sectors the anti money laundering rules cover to disclose a belief or suspicion that someone has committed a terrorist financing offence.
• National Crime Agency guidance on Suspicious Activity Reports (UK). The National Crime Agency runs the UK Financial Intelligence Unit, which receives Suspicious Activity Reports from businesses. Its guidance explains how to submit a report, how to request a defence against money laundering before carrying out a transaction and what happens after you report.

How Lift College compares with other UK providers

Details below are as each provider shows them on its own course page, checked 27 October 2026. "Check provider" means the page did not state it.

With Lift College the £19.99 is the full price for one learner, pay once with no subscription, and the refresher is free when your recommended refresh date arrives. Retakes of the final test are free and unlimited.

Who it suits

Anti Money Laundering Training is for staff and managers in businesses across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, whether or not your firm is covered by the 2017 Regulations. It is for you if:

• you work in a bank, building society, payment firm, accountancy or bookkeeping practice, law firm or tax adviser
• you are an estate agent, letting agent, high value dealer, casino worker or art market participant
• you onboard customers, verify identity or approve transactions in any business
• you are a nominated officer, compliance lead, director or manager responsible for staff training
• you need to show your supervisor or professional body a record of annual anti money laundering training

Customer due diligence means handling personal data, so see our GDPR training guide and data protection training guide. Criminal money and exploitation often go together, so see our modern slavery training guide too. See every course on the workplace compliance courses page or browse all Lift College CPD courses. Buying for a team? Open a free organisation account: every course is £16.99, and you can pay by card or invoice with your PO.

Enrol on Anti Money Laundering Training for £19.99 and start the moment you pay. Ask within 14 days of paying and we refund you in full.