ACAMS Germany Chapter
The ACAMS Germany Chapter is the German chapter of ACAMS, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, which awards the CAMS certification. The chapter is a not-for-profit registered association under German law and has no financial ties to ACAMS LLC. Its members are money laundering reporting officers and other financial crime specialists from banks, insurers and payment firms.
The ACAMS Germany Chapter holds training and networking events on money laundering prevention, terrorist financing and sanctions, usually once a quarter. The events run in German or English, online or in person, and often take place in Berlin or Frankfurt am Main. Non-members may attend as well, while chapter membership requires an active membership with ACAMS.
Events in Berlin and Frankfurt
ACAMS launched its Germany Chapter on 24 November 2015 at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. The first evening drew about 100 AML and financial crime professionals from across Germany. In 2025 the evening events in Frankfurt dealt with the move from rule-based to intelligence-led transaction monitoring and with new sanctions rules. A Berlin event in July 2025 explained blockchains and the tracing of crypto assets, and online sessions of about an hour covered crypto risk from terrorist financing to sanctions evasion.
The chapter marked its tenth anniversary in May 2026 with an afternoon and evening at the Embassy of Italy in Berlin, together with the association Mafia Nein Danke and the Counter Extremism Project. The program asked which measures work against mafia networks, organized crime and terrorist financing under the new EU rules, with lessons from Italy. Bruna Szego, chair of the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority, was named as the keynote speaker of the evening reception.
Board and founder
Holger Pauco-Dirscherl founded the ACAMS Germany Chapter and co-chairs its volunteer board. The board members hold anti-money laundering and sanctions roles at banks, payment companies, insurers and advisory firms. Next to the two co-chairs, the board has a secretary, a treasurer and directors for membership, programming, regulatory topics and communication.
Membership and ACAMS certifications
Membership in the ACAMS Germany Chapter requires an active membership with ACAMS, and new members apply with the chapter membership form under the statutes and fee schedule of the association. ACAMS itself awards certifications such as the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), the Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS) and the Certified Cryptoasset Anti-Financial Crime Specialist (CCAS).
Chapter events in 2025 usually carried one ACAMS credit, which certified members count toward their recertification. The CAMS certificate is one of several routes to formal AML training for compliance staff in Germany.
Upcoming fintech and finance events in Germany
Money laundering, sanctions and crypto assets
In 2022 the chapter held four online and two live events, and the live events in Frankfurt and Berlin looked at crypto regulation and the coming EU AML package. Other sessions that year discussed public-private partnerships between banks and law enforcement, such as the Anti Financial Crime Alliance in Germany. Panels on risk assessments asked how financial institutions move from static to continuously updated models with clear outcomes.
ACAMS chapters in other countries
ACAMS has more than 60 chapters in over 40 countries and regions, among them chapters in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Singapore. Each chapter plans its own local events, while ACAMS runs the large conferences, such as The Assembly Europe.
ACAMS Germany Chapter and Finance Loop
Banks, payment firms and crypto service providers in Germany prepare for the new EU anti-money laundering rules and for the work of AMLA in Frankfurt. Finance Loop members discuss the same questions on KYC, transaction monitoring and sanctions screening in the Risk & Compliance track and at events in Frankfurt and Berlin.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.