On April 27, 2016, the ACAMS Greater Omaha Chapter held its inaugural meeting, highlighting ACAMS’ continued drive toward the national expansion of ACAMS activities to meet the needs of members and the markets in which they serve. The launch of the chapter marked the Greater Omaha Chapter as ACAMS’ 50th chapter. As described by John J. Byrne, ACAMS executive vice president: “Greater Omaha is a perfect example of the model for ACAMS’ chapters’ focus on private-public educational partnerships and improving the AML community through networking and information exchanges. We congratulate the 50th ACAMS Chapter!”
The Greater Omaha chapter launch would not have been a true Midwest-chapter launch without some prospective tornado activity; however, a little inclement weather could not keep us down. We found that the bark of the storm was worse than the bite as we had over 50 prospective members in attendance!
The Chapter Launch Networking Event was held at Brix-Midtown Crossing. Crowe Horwath, LLP sponsored the event and Paul Osborne, partner at Crowe Horwath and an ACAMS CAMS-Audit faculty member, was the guest speaker. His professional involvement with the detection and prevention of financial crimes was evident and he was able to provide attendees with an invaluable perspective on ACAMS’ certifications, reigniting even the oldest ACAMS members’ desire to pursue additional CAMS training.
Anti-money laundering (AML) practitioners from various financial institutions throughout the region attended and participated in the launch, including representatives from surrounding banks, credit unions, law enforcement, service providers and regulator officials.
The Greater Omaha Chapter will continue to advance the knowledge, skills and experience of local AML professionals dedicated to the prevention, detection and reporting of money laundering and other financial crimes within the region, and to educate and promote positive communication between regulators, law enforcement and local financial services professionals.
The chapter is dedicated to providing a forum for the professional development and networking opportunities of its members, and will host similar events throughout the coming year. While headquartered in Omaha, the Greater Omaha Chapter hopes to benefit all ACAMS members in Iowa, Kansas, Northwest Missouri, South Dakota and Nebraska. Members who attend learning events may receive ACAMS continuing education credits.
On behalf of our executive board, we would like to thank our attendees for taking Omaha by storm and making our inaugural event a stellar success!
To learn more about our events, news and how you can become involved in our chapter, read the first issue of the Greater Omaha Chapter Newsletter.
For membership questions or further information about the ACAMS Omaha Chapter, please contact chapter Membership Director Shelly Vandenberg at greateromahachapter@acams.org.
