Stephanie Hallgren

Last month, BSA/AML lead Stephanie Hallgren became a Certified AML and Fraud Professional. Offered by the American Bankers Association, the CAFP certification denotes the recipient’s knowledge of money laundering and fraud regulations and trends.

“Stephanie was excited about earning the certification and spent time after work nearly every day for weeks to review exam materials and study,” BSA and compliance manager VP Kristen Gagliano said. “Her dedication was amazing, and her ever-increasing knowledge of BSA/AML requirements and bank processes make her invaluable to our success.”

Stephanie shared more information about her achievement with Shorelines.

What was your motivation for becoming a CAFP?
I wanted to increase my knowledge and understanding of anti-money laundering and fraud to better help protect North Shore Bank and our customers, while deterring nefarious individuals.

How long did the program take, and what was involved?
To take the exam, I had to complete courses to get a certificate in BSA and AML compliance, as well as a certificate in fraud prevention. This started end of June 2021. I spend most my time completing these courses and studying after hours here at work, as my children made it too difficult to focus at home.

How much of the information in the program was new to you?
I understood the majority of the BSA/AML courses, as I use that in my day-to-day, but as North Shore Bank is a conservative bank, we do not participate in higher-risk products. It was nice to become better acquainted with those products. I gained a better appreciation that we do not offer them to our customer base, as the risk for money laundering increases dramatically.

As for fraud, there are three main reasons why people steal other’s information: first, to sell on the dark web; second, to use the data to get lines of credit, file false tax returns, or get something of value using the identity of the victim; and third, to use the data to access the customer’s financials to take over their bank account and remove funds. I learned a lot in the fraud courses and reminded myself of red flags for fraud and mitigation steps that can be taken against fraud attempts.