GACO Professional Compliance Certificate

The GACO Professional Compliance Certificate is issued by GACO – The Gibraltar Association of Compliance Officers – and it is a professional certificate that accredits its holders that they have the necessary knowledge and experience in the field of AML, CFT and CPF compliance to perform the role of Compliance Officer and/or Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) in Gibraltar and internationally.

The GACO Professional Compliance Certificate sets the Compliance Industry Standard for professionals based in Gibraltar whether they work in the financial industry, or in the gaming industry, or in a Designated Non-Financial Business and Profession (DNFBP). Therefore, any person obtaining the GACO Professional Compliance Certificate will be able to provide evidence that he or she has the necessary knowledge and aptitudes to be capable of assuming a Compliance Officer and/or MLRO role in the respective Industry.

The GACO Professional Compliance Certificate is not a one-off certification, but should be renewed on a regular basis – every two years. The certification will make sure, aside of the need for regular compliance and CPD training, that compliance professionals in all fields can keep their knowledge to date and constantly develop further skills to stay ahead of the industry developments hence equipping them for any compliance role they envisage.

Any individual interested in taking the GACO Professional Compliance Certificate should register for the certificate and pay the participation fee. The fee will cover:

• supply of the Gibraltar Compliance Manual (in its latest version) that serves as basis for the certificate
• up to 2 attempts to take the GACO Professional Compliance Certificate Online Examination
• on successfully passing the examination, receipt of a GACO Professional Compliance Certificate.

Candidates wanting to take the examination, should register online and pay the required fee. Candidates will then receive a hard copy of the Gibraltar Compliance Manual sent to the address registered. A soft copy will also be available on request.

• the online exam needs to be undertaken on a laptop or computer but not a phone and that stopping the exam, once commenced, will mean restarting with a different set of questions and it will be taken as one valid attempt - the candidate has only 2 attempts
• books can only be delivered in Gibraltar

Once the candidate has paid the participation fee, the candidate will receive a login code and will have a maximum of 6 months to sit the examination. Any candidate that fails the examination twice must wait a minimum of 6 months before being allowed to re-register.

The fee for the GACO Professional Compliance Certificate is £80 for GACO Members and £110 for non GACO Members.

Should the candidate wish to retake the examination after 2 failed attempts, a fee of £50 for GACO members and £80 for non GACO members will be required for re-registration. Re-registration must be completed within 6 months after the second retake and the examination retaken in less than 12 months from the second retake.

Fees cannot be refunded. After 6 months has lapsed, the candidate will no longer have access to the examination and this will have the same effect as if the candidate would have failed the exam twice.

The GACO Professional Compliance Certificate Examination is fully online. Each candidate will complete a Multiple-Choice Questionnaire (MCQ) that contains 30 questions. The 30 questions will be chosen randomly from a database and therefore each candidate will have a different set of questions each with the same level of difficulty. Each question will have 4 possible answers. Only 1 answer will be correct. Each candidate will have a maximum of 90 minutes to complete the examination.

In order for the candidate to pass, he or she will have to correctly answer at least 21 out of the 30 questions. If less than 21 questions are answered correctly, then the candidate will have failed and will have one further attempt to take the examination. Between the first attempt and the second attempt there is a maximum of two weeks’ time allowance.

On completion of the examination the results will be immediately evaluated and the candidate will be able to instantly access the results and visualise all the answers.

Should a candidate fail the examination and wish to challenge the result, he or she can appeal to the Examination Board and request that the results be reviewed. Such an appeal must be made via the certificate platform within 14 days of taking the examination.

Any appeal will be made via the certificate platform and provide the rationale for the appeal and should include the allocated reference, her/his name and quote “GACO Professional Compliance Certificate Exam Appeal”. An administration fee will be required of £30. Once payment has been received the Examination Board will review the appeal and email the decision to the candidate.