About the GO-AKS certification
The GO-AKS — Globally Certified KYC Specialist is an industry-trusted and globally recognised KYC certification, widely regarded as the gold standard in KYC worldwide. Built for modern compliance roles, the programme delivers practical mastery of corporate and individual KYC, CDD/EDD, onboarding workflows, sanctions, PEP and adverse media screening, and financial crime prevention across global financial institutions.
Why professionals choose Global AKS
Global recognition across 180+ countries by financial institutions, fintechs and compliance teams, on a practice-based curriculum designed from real workflows used in leading global banks.
Who this course is for
- Onboarding and due diligence analysts — you know the process; this teaches the reasoning underneath it, including the ownership structures that do not resolve on the first pass.
- Neighbouring financial crime teams — transaction monitoring, sanctions, investigations and fraud: why the file you depend on is as it is, and which weaknesses are failures and which are the honest limits of the jurisdiction.
- Relationship managers and client-facing staff — asking the customer once, asking for the fact rather than the document, and giving a reason.
- Firms that are not banks — lawyers, accountants, company service providers, estate agents, dealers in precious metals and stones, insurers, fund administrators, payment firms and virtual asset businesses.
- Moving into the field — due diligence is one of the more accessible ways into financial crime work, and it leads on to complex-structures teams, advisory, investigations and control design.
- New to financial crime — no legal training or prior study is assumed, only a general idea of what a bank does.
Requirements No prerequisites A desktop, laptop or mobile device with an internet connection
The GO-AKS certificate
Recognition and awards
Accreditation
Gold-Tier Accreditation by ONRIGA
A verifiable quality signal for employers, against recognised benchmarks for professional education.
Accreditation ID: ONR-EC-GLD-2013-788dc6
Verify Global AKS on ONRIGA →Recognition
Recognised by the American CBM Association
Enhancing employer confidence and credibility.
Award
Best KYC Certification Awards
Featured in industry coverage of the best KYC certifications.
Read the ComplyFocus article →Award
Gold Standard in KYC Award
Recognising high-quality KYC education and professional standards.
Listing
Professional Designation Listed in FINRA's Database
Global AKS's G-CFES credential is also listed in FINRA's public, searchable Professional Designations Database. FINRA is the US securities and broker-dealer regulator.
Open FINRA Designations Database →What the certification covers, and what the final assessment draws on: the 11 modules and 81 chapters of the GO-AKS study e-booklet.
Certification overview · PDF
The GO-AKS certification in one document — free to download, no account needed, and easy to forward to whoever approves the spend.
Module 1
What the work actually is
5 chapters
- 1.1Four obligations, not one
- 1.2Who must do this, and on whom
- 1.3The four levels of due diligence
- 1.4The risk-based approach
- 1.5The lifecycle, and where you sit in it
Module 2
How it is actually done
7 chapters
- 2.1The three stages, and which one is yours
- 2.2Structures built to conceal ownership
- 2.3Trade-based laundering
- 2.4Cash, and the businesses that absorb it
- 2.5Value that is not money
- 2.6The professionals who make it work
- 2.7Terrorist financing
Module 3
The regulatory map
7 chapters
- 3.1How a standard becomes an obligation
- 3.2United States
- 3.3United Kingdom
- 3.4European Union
- 3.5Canada and Australia
- 3.6United Arab Emirates
- 3.7Asia in brief, and working across regimes
Module 4
What kind of thing is this?
8 chapters
- 4.1Why the type decides everything
- 4.2Companies
- 4.3Listed and regulated entities
- 4.4Partnerships
- 4.5Trusts and foundations
- 4.6Investment funds
- 4.7Vehicles, charities and the state
- 4.8Working the type
Module 5
Ownership and control
8 chapters
- 5.1What a share actually confers
- 5.2Calculating through the layers
- 5.3Where multiplication is the wrong answer
- 5.4Holdings that count together
- 5.5Control without ownership
- 5.6Interests that are not yet shares
- 5.7Where the chain breaks
- 5.8Thresholds, the empty answer, and the chart
Module 6
What to collect, and what counts
7 chapters
- 6.1The set, and how it varies
- 6.2Identity and existence, attribute by attribute
- 6.3Place and activity, attribute by attribute
- 6.4Source of funds and source of wealth
- 6.5The parties, attribute by attribute
- 6.6Status attributes, and identifying a person
- 6.7What makes an attribute defensible
Module 7
Documents, registries and proof
6 chapters
- 7.1Where a fact should come from
- 7.2The constitutional documents
- 7.3Reading a company register
- 7.4Beneficial ownership registers
- 7.5Certification, and what it proves
- 7.6Vendors, reliance and keeping it
Module 8
Rating the risk
9 chapters
- 8.1What a rating is
- 8.2The six axes
- 8.3Country risk, built properly
- 8.4Turning six answers into one
- 8.5What the rating obliges
- 8.6Overrides, and the pattern they make
- 8.7Industry risk, sector by sector
- 8.8The assessment behind the model
- 8.9The factor tables
Module 9
Screening
8 chapters
- 9.1Three controls, not one
- 9.2Sanctions
- 9.3Designation that is not on any list
- 9.4Matching, and what a nil result means
- 9.5Resolving an alert
- 9.6Politically exposed persons
- 9.7Adverse media
- 9.8Keeping it running
Module 10
What the product demands
7 chapters
- 10.1Why the product changes the file
- 10.2Correspondent banking
- 10.3Trade finance
- 10.4Derivatives and securities
- 10.5Payments, money services and virtual assets
- 10.6Private banking and wealth
- 10.7Tax documentation
Module 11
Working the file
9 chapters
- 11.1The sequence
- 11.2Asking well
- 11.3Writing it
- 11.4Where you sit
- 11.5The function, and the nominated officer
- 11.6Who approves what
- 11.7Escalation
- 11.8Keeping it current
- 11.9The standard
What this course contains, and what the assessment asks of you.
Step 1
Study e-booklet
The GO-AKS study e-booklet: 11 modules, 81 chapters. There are no separate lessons — the e-booklet is the course, and its contents are on the Syllabus tab.
- FormatPDF e-booklet
- Modules11
- Chapters81
- AccessLifetime
- DownloadOn enrolment
Step 2
Mock exam
Not graded and issues no certificate — it shows you where you stand, on a separate paper from the final.
- Questions100
- Time limit100 minutes
- Attempts2
- GradedNo
Step 3
Final assessment
Graded. Passing issues the certificate and its credential ID straight away.
- Questions100
- Time limit100 minutes
- Pass mark85%
- Attempts2
- Skipped question−1
How the assessment works
- The mock and the final are separate papers. The mock is not graded, and sitting it never uses up a final attempt.
- The final is 100 multiple-choice questions in 100 minutes, sat online whenever you are ready.
- The clock is kept by the server, not your browser: closing the tab does not stop it.
- Scoring: +1 for a correct answer, 0 for a wrong one, and −1 for a question left unanswered.
- Before your first attempt you confirm the name that will print on the certificate.
- You have 2 attempts, and can buy another for US$19 if you need it.
- Passing issues the certificate immediately, with a credential ID anyone can verify.
The final assessment is what earns the credential. It is multiple choice, taken entirely online, and you may sit it whenever you are ready — there is no waiting period after enrolling and no expiry on the attempts.
- Format
- Multiple choice · 100% online
- Passing score
- 85%
- Correct answer
- +1
- Incorrect answer
- 0
- Skipped question
- −1
- Attempts included
- 2 final · 2 mock
- Further attempts
- US$19 each
- When you may sit it
- Any time · no expiry
The mock exam
2 mock attempts are included. The mock is not graded and issues no certificate — it is there to show you where you stand. It is a separate paper from the final: sitting it, or running out of mock attempts, does not affect your final attempts in any way.
If you do not pass
2 final attempts are included. If you use them all, you can buy another for US$19 straight away — the option appears on your result screen, with no email and no waiting. Your access to the study material is unaffected.
On passing
The digital certificate is issued instantly, carrying a unique credential ID that any employer can check on the verification portal without an account.
Renewal
The certification is valid for 2 years. Renewal is required every 2 years, for a renewal fee of US$49. Curriculum updates are added regularly, based on input from compliance teams and investment banks.
Ready to sit it?
The final assessment is reachable from the Curriculum tab whenever you are enrolled — whether or not you have taken the mock.
See the curriculum →I was looking for a KYC credential to add alongside my existing compliance experience. The course itself gave me some useful revision as well.
Reviewed 16 June 2026
The training was convenient and I could complete it around family commitments. Not every online course works that way for me.
Reviewed 3 June 2026
I found it relevant to corporate onboarding. The part about identifying the real beneficial owner was especially useful in my case.
Reviewed 1 June 2026
The course helped me understand how the different checks fit together. Before this I was looking at screening, CDD and adverse media as separate tasks.
Reviewed 23 May 2026
I took notes on the examples and that helped during revision. The content is broad, so I would not recommend trying to rush through it.
Reviewed 23 May 2026
I was already familiar with basic CDD, so I focused more on EDD, UBO and high risk assessments. Those sections gave me more value.
Reviewed 6 May 2026
It is aligned with my current work. I am happy to learn.
Reviewed 4 May 2026
Good learning experience overall. I think people completely new to KYC will need to take their time with some of the concepts.
Reviewed 15 April 2026
I liked the self paced approach. Some weeks I had no time, then I could do more on the weekend.
Reviewed 15 April 2026
The assessment was a little more useful than I expected because it made me pay attention to details in the study material.
Reviewed 9 April 2026