The CCAS Scholarship

“At ACAMS, diversity, equity, and inclusion are who we are, not what we do. As part of our commitment to our community, we strive to drive change by building a pipeline of talent through key strategic initiatives. This scholarship is one such initiative.”

Lash Kaur leads Global Strategic Communications and DEI at ACAMS, the world’s largest mission-driven membership organization dedicated to ending financial crime. In addition to her work engaging with key stakeholders on thought leadership and global positioning for ACAMS, Lash has spearheaded partnerships with the Liechtenstein Initiative for Finance Against Slavery & Trafficking (FAST) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to develop free global social-impact certificate programs that train anti-financial crime (AFC) professionals on identifying suspicious activity linked to human trafficking and the illegal wildlife trade.

She also champions the organization’s efforts in the DEI space, leveraging the convening power of ACAMS to spotlight and support the career needs of BIPOC professionals, drive LGBTQ awareness, and push for greater diversity across all ACAMS platforms and training events.

“It has been a privilege to listen to so many talented, driven and ambitious individuals who put forth their case for the CCAS scholarship. I’m heartened by the fact that our scholarship candidates are ready and willing to roll up their sleeves, gain knowledge in a new area, and use what they’ve learned for the benefit of their communities.”

Shilpa Arora is the Anti-Financial Crime Segments Solutions Director for ACAMS, where she is responsible for the development of AFC solutions for ACAMS clients. Shilpa partners with CCOs, COOs and Heads of AFC functions in regulated entities to enable holistic learning. Shilpa also represents ACAMS by leading roundtables, speaking at major industry events, participating in think tanks and proactively engaging with industry practitioners. Shilpa is passionate about Diversity and Inclusion and is a member of the DEI Taskforce at ACAMS.

In addition to her knowledge of AFC issues, Shilpa is also an expert in the use of AFC technologies to prevent financial crime. She has a strong understanding of risk frameworks, control environments and automation, and she is highly regarded for her ability to deliver large-scale culture change, technology transformation and financial-crime prevention.

“It was my honour to review these submissions, as each of them are inspiring in their own way. Those with personal stories stood out, making the mission to fight to financial crime very real. These are stories of hopes, dreams and aspirations, not just for the AFC cause, but for them to make a difference in their lives and their communities.”

Caryn Leong is the Regional Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Director – APAC for ACAMS, where she is the lead English-speaking SME practitioner on AML and Financial Crime Compliance across the APAC region. Working closely with APAC and international colleagues, Caryn plays a key role in shaping ACAMS priorities, offerings, and activities across the APAC region.

Caryn brings to ACAMS a wealth of AFC global banking experience that spans Standard Chartered, JPMorgan, Clearstream Banking, UBS AG, ABN Amro and Bank of America. Most recently she was the Head of Financial Crime Compliance Controls, Surveillance Excellence with Standard Chartered Bank, where she was responsible for the end-to-end process, governance, and risk management of the group-wide alert disposition process.

“It was a privilege to be able to hear the aspirations and commitment of so many deserving candidates to the crypto space. I look forward to seeing how the winners of the scholarship will make a difference in their respective countries and become the leaders of tomorrow in the anti-financial crime industry.”

Karla Monterrosa-Yancey is the award-winning editor-in-chief of the ACAMS Today (AT) magazine. Under her guidance the magazine has won over 200 awards for content, design, copywriting, interviews and much more. Monterrosa-Yancey has expanded the global reach of AT by launching two additional titles to the ACAMS Today repertoire: ACAMS Today Europe (published in English, French and German) and ACAMS Today Español. Monterrosa-Yancey also guides and manages the content and design of ACAMSToday.org, ACAMS Connection and Conexión newsletters, AT social media, ACAMS members’ career headquarters and community forums.

Karla is currently Florida Magazine Association (FMA) president and has been a board member since 2018. She is also a board member of the Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative.

“What stood out for me was the applicants who had the ambition of taking what they would learn from the CCAS program and bringing it back to their team, their institution, and on a lot of occasions their country. Wanting to share that knowledge with others is what will move the needle with BIPOC representation in this field.”

Stephen is a cryptocurrency compliance and blockchain investigations consultant who previously acted as the Deputy Manager of AML Investigations for industry leading cryptocurrency exchange, Bitfinex. Previously, he acquired AML experience working for international bank HSBC as an AML Investigations Manager and acquired many AML and cryptocurrency designations and has recently become Certified Trainer for Blockchain Analytics company, Chainalysis.

Stephen has been a contributor to several International Public Private Partnerships initiated by Interpol, FinCEN and FINTRAC to counter human and fentanyl trafficking, darknet marketplaces and financial crime in the cryptocurrency industry. He specializes in blockchain investigation training and providing consultancy to compliance programs at fintechs and crypto companies.

“The applications received for the CCAS scholarship were impressive and candidates demonstrated lots of passion and interest in fighting financial crimes in the crypto space. I look forward to seeing their successful professional journey with the  CCAS certification.”

Beatrice Migale currently serves as an Manager of Sanctions, Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption at a financial institution in Toronto. Prior to coming to Canada in 2019, Beatrice worked at the country FIU of Mauritius, where she demonstrated strong experience in the AML/CFT field. While at the FIU, Beatrice worked on a broad range of complex financial-crime investigations of national and international nature, and disseminated intelligence reports to law enforcement agencies, regulators and other national FIUs.

Beatrice has also represented the FIU Mauritius in international seminars on various occasions and participated in such projects as “Developing Capacity Building for FIUs in the ESA-IO Region” and the National Risk Assessment for Mauritius. She was trained by the FATF and ESAAMLG as an AML/CFT Mutual Evaluation Assessor for Mauritius in 2017. Beatrice was a recipient of the ACAMS CAFCA Scholarship in 2021.