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SIE Anti-money Laundering (AML)

AML on the SIE is built on the Bank Secrecy Act and the USA PATRIOT Act. You need the three stages of laundering — placement, layering, integration — the Customer Identification Program, and the reporting thresholds: a CTR above $10,000 in cash, and a SAR at $5,000 where the firm suspects wrongdoing.

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Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities · 31%145 questions8% hard
31%of the exam is Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities, the section this topic sits in.
145questions on this topic in the PrepScore bank.
49%are apply-level questions — the dominant cognitive demand here.
5are EXCEPT / NOT items, where the answer is the odd one out.
What the SIE asks

What you actually need to know

  • Placement, layering, integration — and which stage a described act belongs to.
  • The CTR threshold of more than $10,000 in currency in one day.
  • The SAR threshold of $5,000, and the prohibition on tipping off the customer.
  • The four Customer Identification Program elements a firm must collect.
How this topic behaves

What 145 questions on it look like

36% of the questions demand analysis rather than recall — you are asked to judge a described situation, not to name a definition.

compliance judgment95%
comparison5%

Question-type mix across the 145 questions in this topic.

From the bank

Three real anti-money laundering (aml) questions

With the explanation — which is the part that teaches.

compliance judgment · easy · recall

Which of the following best describes money laundering?

  1. ARecommending unsuitable securities to generate additional commissions
  2. BCharging a customer an excessive markup that is not disclosed on the trade confirmation
  3. CThe process of making funds derived from criminal activity appear to have come from a legitimate sourcecorrect
  4. DBorrowing securities to deliver against a short sale that cannot be settled on time
Why C is correct

Money laundering is the process of disguising the origins of illegally obtained money so the funds appear legitimate. The other choices describe unrelated sales-practice or settlement violations.

comparison · hard · apply

A compliance review has two files. File 1 contains a $12,300 physical-currency deposit with no other unusual facts. File 2 contains no cash deposit but has evasive explanations and wires to unrelated offshore recipients. Which SAR/CTR comparison is most accurate?

  1. AFile 1 points to SAR only, while File 2 points to CTR only
  2. BBoth files point only to trade-confirmation delivery
  3. CNeither file raises an AML reporting concept because only securities trades matter
  4. DFile 1 points to CTR analysis; File 2 points to suspicious activity reviewcorrect
Why D is correct

A covered currency transaction over $10,000 points to CTR analysis, while evasive explanations and unusual wires point to suspicious activity review for possible SAR handling.

compliance judgment · easy · understand

A registered representative explains money laundering to a new hire. Which statement most accurately captures its essential purpose?

  1. ATo convert legitimate earnings into untraceable cash to avoid paying income tax only
  2. BTo conceal the criminal origin of funds so they can be used as if lawfully earnedcorrect
  3. CTo increase the liquidity of a thinly traded security by routing trades through multiple accounts
  4. DTo move foreign currency into U.S. dollars at the most favorable exchange rate
Why B is correct

The defining purpose of money laundering is concealing the illicit source of funds so they can be spent or invested without raising suspicion. Tax evasion or currency conversion alone is not the definition.

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FAQ

Anti-money Laundering (AML) questions

When must a firm file a CTR?

When a customer conducts more than $10,000 in currency transactions in a single business day. Structuring transactions to avoid the threshold is itself a violation.

What is the SAR threshold?

$5,000 where the firm knows, suspects or has reason to suspect the transaction involves illegal funds or has no business purpose.

Can a firm tell a customer a SAR was filed?

No. Disclosing the existence of a SAR to the subject is prohibited.
Last reviewed 2026-08-28. Exam facts sourced to FINRA’s SIE exam page and the FINRA SIE content outline. Question counts describe the PrepScore bank, not the exam.
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Practise anti-money laundering (aml) until the rule is automatic.

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