The International Compliance Association (ICA), a global, not-for-profit professional membership body supporting compliance professionals through independently awarded certifications, announces its expansion into the US, with its primary training partner, International Compliance Training (ICT). The US team, based in New York, offers programs covering Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Anti-Bribery & Corruption, Know Your Customer (KYC), Sanctions and Managing Fraud to help further the careers and knowledge of compliance professionals, with differentiated course levels available for each career stage.
Leading the team in North America is Steve Stromp who brings extensive, international experience in the AML and compliance space. Steve was previously Principal Consultant at the Compliance Ready Group and has had senior level roles within banking and payments, aligning systems and processes to improve risk profiling. According to Stromp: “The International Compliance Association wants to help make the world more stable and successful by inspiring, educating and enabling our global community of compliance specialists to perform to the highest standards of professional practice and conduct. With our training and certifications now available for the US compliance community, we are excited that US compliance and financial crime prevention professionals can benefit from our international insights and uniquely practical training methods to further their career, develop their teams and help lead their businesses into the future.”
There are many reasons why a focus on strengthening knowledge and the tool set for the compliance community will be important in 2017. For example, with the new Trump administration and its domestic agenda, there could also be many changes in regulatory compliance that focus on global issues, such as Dodd-Frank, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), sanctions, and counter terrorism financing.
In addition, the increased need for transparency and accountability with the constantly evolving regulatory landscape, means that firms are under unprecedented scrutiny from regulators, their customers and society. For the largest global banks, regulatory fines and settlements have increased by a factor of 45 between 2009 and 2014. Corporate and financial institutions need to adhere to higher compliance standards at both a national and international level and ensure that their teams are fully trained on compliance initiatives.
For compliance professionals in leading organizations, effective compliance, in collaboration with other business units, can also be seen as a key differentiator for businesses, unlocking commercial advantage and driving businesses forwards.
For over 15 years, the International Compliance Association, in conjunction with its training partners, has been working with a global community of compliance, AML and financial crime professionals, firms and regulators. Together they are driving standards, best practice, and excellence through their internationally recognized professional qualifications, member resources and practical support. The ICA certifications are awarded in association with Alliance Manchester Business School, the University of Manchester (the UK’s largest campus-based business and management school). Many international regulators and bodies formally recognize the certifications such as the British Bankers’ Association, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Central Bank of the Bahamas. Globally, clients include HSBC, Visa, Citi, Barclays, Paypal and Bank of America with whom ICA and its training partner, ICT, work collaboratively to also create and deliver customized training solutions. With 55 subject matter experts in all aspects of regulatory and financial crime compliance, their world-class faculty includes international academics as well as experienced industry practitioners.
The International Compliance Association will hold an Open House event on March 9th at the Intercontinental New York Time Square hotel to provide more information about the public courses they offer as well as showcasing its experience of in-house, customized programmes.
The International Compliance Association (ICA) is a professional membership and awarding body. It is the leading global provider of professional qualifications in anti money laundering; governance, risk and compliance and financial crime prevention having awarded over 120,000 certifications. ICA’s internationally recognised qualifications empower you to think more, perform better and excel in your field. ICA has members in 112 countries and being part of their global membership community demonstrates a commitment to the highest standards of practice and conduct, enhances your professional reputation and employability and significantly protects and improves the performance of your organisation.
