Global Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Academy: Five Days That Could Change How You Investigate Financial Crime
Earn 40 CPE Credits While Developing Practical Skills in Anti-Corruption, Money Laundering, Fraud Investigation, and International Due Diligence
John C. Blackshire, Jr. Corporate Compliance Seminars (CCS) | In-Person Professional Training | November–December 2026
Financial crime does not respect national borders, corporate structures, or regulatory jurisdictions.
Corruption, money laundering, fraud, sanctions evasion, and organized criminal activity frequently involve sophisticated networks of businesses, intermediaries, financial institutions, professional advisers, and individuals operating across multiple countries.
For auditors, compliance officers, investigators, and financial professionals, recognizing suspicious activity is only the beginning.
The real challenge is determining what the evidence means, identifying what information is missing, and developing a defensible conclusion about the risks facing an organization.
To help professionals address these challenges, Corporate Compliance Seminars (CCS) is presenting its Global Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Academy, an intensive five-day, instructor-led program featuring internationally recognized financial investigator and due-diligence expert L. Burke Files.
The Academy provides 40 CPE credits and combines practical investigative techniques, anti-corruption governance, financial crime risk assessment, case studies, and real-world due diligence methods.
Upcoming Academy Locations and Dates
Location | Dates |
Woodland Hills, California | November 16–20, 2026 |
Denver, Colorado | November 30–December 4, 2026 |
Scottsdale, Arizona | December 14–18, 2026 |
1. Why Financial Crime Training Must Go Beyond Regulatory Checklists
Traditional compliance programs frequently emphasize policies, regulatory requirements, forms, certifications, and procedural checklists.
These activities are important, but they do not necessarily reveal concealed financial crime risks.
A customer may provide all required onboarding documentation while concealing the individuals who actually control the business.
A supplier may appear legitimate while operating through intermediaries associated with corruption or sanctions evasion.
An acquisition target may present impressive financial information while omitting significant liabilities, related-party relationships, or regulatory problems.
An executive may provide technically accurate statements that nevertheless create a misleading impression because important facts have been excluded.
These situations require investigative judgment.
Professionals must learn to ask:
Who actually owns or controls the organization?
Where did the money originate?
Are the stated business activities consistent with the available evidence?
What relationships have not been disclosed?
Are the documents authentic, current, complete, and independently verifiable?
What information would contradict management's representations?
What risks could cause the proposed transaction or relationship to fail?
The Academy emphasizes that due diligence is an independent fact-finding process—not merely a completed checklist.
2. Understanding the Global Financial Crime Environment
Financial crime frequently involves interconnected activities.
Money laundering may conceal the proceeds of corruption, fraud, trafficking, or organized crime.
Shell companies and professional intermediaries may obscure beneficial ownership.
Cross-border transactions can exploit differences in regulatory requirements, transparency, and enforcement.
Participants will examine the relationships among:
Corruption and bribery.
Fraud and financial misconduct.
Money laundering.
Sanctions evasion.
Organized criminal networks.
Trafficking and counterfeiting.
International business and political risk.
The Academy examines how legitimate businesses and financial systems can be exploited and how investigators can recognize indicators of concealed criminal activity.
The objective is not to assume that every complex transaction is suspicious.
It is to understand when complexity, secrecy, inconsistent explanations, or unusual relationships warrant additional investigation.
3. Anti-Corruption Governance: Why Tone at the Top Matters
Effective anti-corruption programs begin with management integrity, organizational accountability, and an appropriate internal control framework.
An organization may have a written anti-bribery policy yet fail to enforce it when a senior executive or important business partner is involved.
The Academy examines how corruption risks are influenced by:
Management accountability: Whether executives demonstrate ethical conduct and respond appropriately to identified problems.
Internal controls: Whether approval procedures, segregation of duties, monitoring, and reporting mechanisms address corruption risks.
Conflicts of interest: Whether undisclosed relationships influence purchasing, hiring, investments, or other business decisions.
Whistleblower programs: Whether employees and third parties can report concerns through appropriate channels.
Board oversight: Whether significant risks and investigative findings are communicated to those responsible for governance.
For internal auditors and compliance professionals, these issues are central to evaluating the organization's Control Environment.
4. Investigative Due Diligence: Trust, but Verify
One of the Academy's central themes is the disciplined investigation of representations.
A representation is not necessarily a fact.
Management statements, customer declarations, supplier certifications, financial projections, and professional references must be evaluated against independent evidence.
Participants will learn how to:
Identify explicit and implied claims.
Develop testable investigative hypotheses.
Determine what evidence should exist if a claim is accurate.
Identify reliable independent sources.
Evaluate contradictory or incomplete information.
Determine when enhanced investigation is necessary.
Document conclusions supported by evidence.
Practical example: A potential international business partner
A prospective distributor claims to have substantial government relationships, exclusive distribution rights, and a successful operating history.
An effective due-diligence investigation would seek independent evidence of its legal existence, ownership, licenses, financial capacity, operating history, and relationships.
The investigator would also consider whether government connections create corruption or conflict-of-interest risks.
The Academy helps participants develop a disciplined approach to answering these questions.
5. Customer, Supplier, and Third-Party Risk
Many serious financial crime exposures originate outside an organization's direct workforce.
Customers, vendors, agents, consultants, distributors, acquisition targets, and other counterparties may introduce legal, financial, and reputational risks.
Participants will examine risk-based due diligence involving:
Beneficial ownership and control.
Customer and counterparty backgrounds.
High-risk intermediaries.
Sanctions and international restrictions.
Sources of funds and assets.
Supplier legitimacy and operational capacity.
Undisclosed relationships and conflicts of interest.
Access to intellectual property and sensitive information.
Ongoing monitoring after onboarding.
Why this matters
A company may maintain effective internal purchasing controls but still experience significant losses if it fails to investigate a high-risk supplier.
Similarly, a financial institution may collect required customer documentation without adequately understanding unusual ownership structures or the source of funds.
The Academy emphasizes that effective third-party due diligence must be proportionate to risk and continue when circumstances warrant additional review.
6. Designing and Managing an Effective Investigation
An investigation must have a clear purpose, appropriate scope, qualified personnel, and sufficient resources.
Poorly designed investigations can consume substantial time and money without answering the questions that matter.
The Academy addresses how to establish:
Purpose: What decision must the investigation support?
Scope: Which people, organizations, transactions, jurisdictions, and risks require examination?
Resources: What expertise, information sources, and investigative capabilities are necessary?
Budget and timetable: How can resources be allocated to the highest-risk issues?
Evidence strategy: What information is needed to confirm or challenge significant representations?
Reporting requirements: What must executives, boards, investors, or other decision-makers know?
Participants will also consider when external investigators, local specialists, legal advisers, or language experts may be needed.
7. Identifying Concealed Risks in Business Transactions
Financial crime and corruption investigations often extend well beyond financial statements.
The Academy examines a broad range of due-diligence considerations, including:
Executive backgrounds, qualifications, and credentials.
Ownership of real property and significant assets.
Liens, legal claims, and undisclosed obligations.
Supplier and supply-chain risks.
Business locations and operational capacity.
Intellectual property and sensitive information.
Environmental and regulatory liabilities.
Product and service representations.
Financial and reputational exposure.
Example: Acquisition due diligence
An acquisition target may report strong revenue growth and substantial assets.
However, independent investigation could reveal customer concentration, disputed property ownership, undisclosed related parties, or questionable operating licenses.
These findings may materially affect the value or feasibility of the transaction.
The investigator's responsibility is to identify and communicate the facts—not to produce the conclusion preferred by the transaction sponsor.
8. Evaluating Evidence and Reporting Findings
One of the most valuable investigative skills is distinguishing reliable evidence from unsupported assertions.
Information may be inaccurate, outdated, incomplete, misleading, or repeated from a single unverified source.
Participants will learn to evaluate information based on its:
Reliability.
Relevance.
Completeness.
Timeliness.
Source.
Purpose.
Consistency with other evidence.
The Academy also addresses preparing reports that communicate findings clearly to executives, boards, investors, and other decision-makers.
Effective investigative reporting should distinguish established facts from allegations, assumptions, and unresolved questions.
It should explain material contradictions, significant information gaps, and potential transaction-ending risks without overstating what the evidence proves.
A defensible investigative conclusion is one that can withstand scrutiny—not merely one that sounds convincing.
9. Learn From International Financial Investigator L. Burke Files
The Academy is led by L. Burke Files, an international financial investigator, due-diligence expert, anti-corruption authority, author, and consultant.
His professional experience includes matters involving more than 130 countries.
Mr. Files serves as President of Financial Examinations & Evaluations, Inc. and the American Anti-Corruption Institute and is a co-founder of the International Due Diligence Organization.
His experience includes financial investigations, fraud, corruption, asset recovery, money laundering, international business risk, and enhanced due diligence.
Rather than relying exclusively on academic theory, his instruction emphasizes practical investigative methods, professional skepticism, evidence evaluation, and the lessons learned from complex international engagements.
Participants will benefit from an investigator's perspective on how concealed risks are identified, investigated, and communicated.
10. American Anti-Corruption Institute Certification Opportunity
The Academy also includes support for the applicable certification process associated with the American Anti-Corruption Institute (AACI).
Mr. Files will coordinate and process the required certification documentation with AACI.
The Academy's event information identifies the Certified Anti-Corruption Manager (CACM) credential as relevant to executives, public officials, board members, managers, and other professionals responsible for preventing and deterring corruption.
Participants pursuing certification must satisfy AACI's applicable eligibility, application, examination, ethics, membership, and continuing education requirements.
Attendance at the Academy does not automatically guarantee an AACI credential.
Professionals interested in certification should review the current requirements and confirm the applicable process.
11. Who Should Attend?
The Global Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Academy is designed for professionals responsible for identifying, investigating, preventing, or responding to financial crime and corruption risks.
It is particularly relevant to:
Internal and external auditors.
Fraud examiners and financial investigators.
Anti-money laundering and financial crime professionals.
Compliance and ethics officers.
Banking and financial institution personnel.
Corporate risk managers.
Government investigators and public officials.
Procurement and third-party risk professionals.
Corporate security and intelligence personnel.
Attorneys and regulatory professionals.
Board and Audit Committee members.
Executives responsible for governance and organizational integrity.
The program is also relevant to professionals involved in acquisitions, international business relationships, supplier due diligence, and complex transactions.
12. What Participants Will Take Back to Their Organizations
The objective of the Academy is to strengthen practical investigative capability.
Participants should leave better prepared to:
Recognize hidden risks. Identify financial crime indicators that conventional compliance procedures may overlook.
Investigate representations. Distinguish independently verified facts from unsupported statements and assumptions.
Improve due diligence. Apply more disciplined approaches to customers, suppliers, executives, investments, and business partners.
Evaluate evidence. Recognize information gaps, contradictions, questionable sources, and material inconsistencies.
Develop investigations. Establish clear objectives, proportionate scopes, investigative strategies, and appropriate resource requirements.
Strengthen governance. Provide management, boards, and Audit Committees with reliable information concerning significant risks.
Communicate findings. Prepare concise, factual reports that support informed decisions.
These capabilities are valuable whether the professional works in a bank, corporation, accounting firm, government agency, or other organization exposed to financial crime risk.
Register for the Global Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Academy
Corporate Compliance Seminars is offering three upcoming in-person presentations.
City | Event dates | CPE credits |
Woodland Hills, CA | November 16–20, 2026 | 40 |
Denver, CO | November 30–December 4, 2026 | 40 |
Scottsdale, AZ | December 14–18, 2026 | 40 |
Registration fee: $4,500 per attendee.
The program is presented in a Group Live format and includes interactive instruction, practical exercises, investigative frameworks, and real-world case studies.
CCS can also arrange customized in-person training for organizations requiring specialized content or alternative locations and schedules.
Conclusion: Financial Crime Investigations Require More Than Compliance Knowledge
Financial crime is increasingly complex because business relationships, financial transactions, and criminal networks frequently cross organizational and national boundaries.
Auditors, investigators, and compliance professionals must be able to recognize suspicious circumstances, question representations, evaluate evidence, and communicate findings that support defensible decisions.
The Global Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Academy provides an opportunity to develop these capabilities through five days of intensive, practical instruction from an internationally experienced investigator.
Whether your responsibilities involve fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, third-party due diligence, anti-corruption compliance, or governance oversight, the ability to identify concealed risks and independently verify critical information is essential.
Financial crime prevention begins with asking the right questions. Effective investigation requires obtaining the evidence necessary to answer them.
Join Corporate Compliance Seminars in Woodland Hills, Denver, or Scottsdale and strengthen your organization's ability to recognize, investigate, and respond to global financial crime and corruption risks.
Corporate Compliance Seminars — Practical Continuing Professional Education for Auditors, Investigators, Compliance Professionals, and Financial Industry Leaders.
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