The ACAMS South Florida Chapter has been hard at work in the first quarter of 2011! Continuing to pursue its mission to advance the professional knowledge, skills and experience of those dedicated to the detection and prevention of money laundering, the chapter keeps providing its members with diverse educational events as well as networking opportunities.
On February 10, the chapter kicked off its exciting roster of learning events by hosting Derek Ganter, Internal Revenue Service Bank Secrecy Act Specialist responsible for outreach and education for the Money Services Business Industry in the Southeast region. This event, held at the Adolfo Ibanez School of Management in Miami and titled "Money Services Businesses: Understanding the Hotspots Before Your Next AML Exam," was well-attended by attorneys, consultants, compliance personnel, law enforcement and government officials. Derek was an enthusiastic speaker and highlighted the IRS outreach initiative for MSBs, key points from the AML/BSA examination process and other key AML compliance hot topics. The presentation ended with a lively question and answer portion and following the learning event, the speaker and attendees met for refreshments and had the chance to exchange their thoughts, comments and contact information.
The South Florida Chapter is committed to assist ACAMS with its global efforts of partnering with local organizations to offer members additional avenues for training and exposure in related fields. To fulfill this goal, the Chapter actively participated in the 2011 Fraud Conference organized by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and the Institute of Internal Auditor (IIA) on March 18th. The one-day conference covered many relevant topics including Medicare fraud, internal corporate investigations, e-discovery, forensic data analytics, the convergence of fraud and Anti-Money Laundering, fraud risk management and asset recovery. The chapter is currently working in conjunction with the ACFE to organize an all-day compliance event in the Fall of 2011. Stay tuned for more details.
Every March, the AML Conference in Hollywood, Florida, is an amazing venue to learn from the best but also a great opportunity to meet with them and with new colleagues of our very diverse AML community from all over the world. This year, the Conference saw the active participation of the members of the South Florida Chapter on many fronts. The members of the executive board alternated shifts at the ACAMS booth to interact with the conference attendees, and did not miss a chance to participate in roundtables, panels, meetings and—of course—social events!
Finally, the members of the board held the chapter's monthly networking event on April 7, at Fado Irish Pub in the Miami-Brickell area. Like every month, the scope of the event was to meet with the current members of the chapter in an after-work, stress-free casual setting. It was a great opportunity for everyone to discuss relevant industry issues and to have a good time. The event was open to everyone, colleagues and friends and saw the lively participation of the local crowd.
The chapter is planning exciting educational and networking events, for the second quarter. Remember that most of the chapter's learning events count toward continuing education credits for CAMS certification or recertification.
We welcome all ACAMS members in South Florida to join our chapter, and invite those in the private and public sectors who have not joined ACAMS to do so.
See you at upcoming meetings and events!
For more information on future events or to join the South Florida Chapter, please visit the chapter's web page at http://www.acams.org/south-florida-chapter/.
