Anne Scholz has been with ACAMS since 2019. In her current role as executive assistant, she supports Angela Salter, chief product officer; Justine Walker, vice president of thought leadership; and other colleagues within the Europe, Middle East and Africa region with their calendars, travel bookings and overall office and facilities management duties. Scholz is instrumental in logistically preparing and managing meetings for ACAMS’ product vertical and in organizing goals and initiatives sent by the product management team. Prior to joining ACAMS, Scholz started her career as a multilingual assistant at a Swedish hedge fund group back in 2013 and has worked at several hedge funds and private equity companies. In addition, Scholz is fluent in three languages: German, English and Swedish. She has recently started to make use of her Swedish skills again in her communications with the manager of ACAMS Service Ops.

ACAMS Today (AT): What is your favorite part about working at ACAMS?

Anne Scholz (AS): The challenges thrown at you even after five years with the company. I especially enjoy hosting face-to-face meetings in our London office because it always feels like I am putting on an event. The day-to-day in the office and setting up face-to-face meetings are important because the muscles needed to do business in an office environment have weakened in recent years due to the office setting shift during COVID-19. So, it is exciting to hit the ground running again in enabling our different teams to meet locally or externally. After taking on additional responsibilities for the office and IT hardware, time management and prep work are key in juggling all the responsibilities on top of my normal daily responsibilities for Angela and Justine, who are always my main priority. It is also rewarding to support the members of the executive committee in their meetings with peers across the organization. I need to give a shoutout to my peers Min Hui in Singapore, and Amy Steadman and Sheila Campos in the U.S. as well. Without all of us complementing each other in different ways throughout our working days, we would not grow as individuals or as an organization.

AT: In your current role, you interact daily with colleagues around the world. What is the key to fostering and maintaining positive relationships with your peers?

AS: Keeping a positive attitude when hopping on calls with people from across the organization and across the globe is never disappointing. I have weekly calls with Singapore, the U.S. and Europe and I can speak from experience that maintaining a positive attitude toward everyone makes us bond and perform stronger as a team. Emotional intelligence is a key part, too. When you only connect via video, it is fundamental in reading between the lines sometimes.

AT: Which anti-financial crime (AFC) topic are you most interested in learning more about and why?

AS: Fraud and crypto. I think almost everyone has been a victim of fraud in one way or another. Understanding what leads to fraud, recognizing techniques and schemes, and being able to prevent falling victim to fraud in the future can be beneficial for everyone―yourself, your family, your relatives and friends. Crypto is an exciting topic as well, although I am not too familiar with it. I have some catching up to do for sure with crypto.

AT: Any ACAMS product launches that you are most looking forward to in 2025?

AS: I have been excited about the Certified Anti-Fraud Specialist (CAFS) launch since its release in autumn of 2024. I want to take the time to dig deeper into our certifications, like CAFS, and our stackable courses. I would also like to get my Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) certification at some point in the future. I have the advantage of working closely with the product team. Whenever I see a new product being launched, I feel immensely proud to have played a small part in enabling its launch, even though it may have just been something simple such as coordinating meetings for different teams during the lead-up to the launch. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) General Awareness for Gaming is also an interesting product to be watched as the gaming Industry is relatively untapped when it comes to AML and AFC.

AT: What do you like to do in your spare time?

AS: I like to go for country walks in the local area and explore new areas of the U.K. I am slowly ticking off National Trust properties. I also like to frequent the gym and have started to challenge myself in acquiring new skills away from the desk. There are a number of different fitness classes offered at the local gym, with one of my favorites being tai chi, or I could be found head-down in some crime thriller by Karin Slaughter or Tim Weaver.

Interviewed by: ACAMS Today editorial, ACAMS, editor@acams.org