Businesses seeking to improve the standard of know-your-customer (KYC) and customer due diligence (CDD) expertise within their organisations can enrol their employees in a new certificate offered by the International Compliance Association (ICA).

The ICA said it had developed the course to provide a "fountain of knowledge of core KYC and CDD concepts".

Awarded in association with Alliance Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester, the qualification is mainly aimed at new entrants into the field of KYC and other professionals whose work involves following the CDD process.

Topics covered will include due diligence and regulatory frameworks, core KYC processes and the day-to-day reality of working in these areas.

Due to be launched in November, the course will be made available through online learning to participants all over the world. Workshops are due to take place in London and Jersey, with additional locations set to follow next year.

For businesses interested in enrolling more than ten members of staff, ICA training partner International Compliance Training (ICT) will offer the course on an in-house basis.

In a statement announcing details of the new certificate, Phil Ryan, chief executive of the ICA, emphasised the importance of these concepts in the modern business environment.

"KYC requirements are at the core of regulatory expectations and corporate change programmes so firms need their staff to have adequate knowledge of customer due diligence," he said.

"This new introductory level provides an all-round view of the regulatory requirements for risk-based customer due diligence, the key CDD concepts and the organisational components of an effective KYC process."

Earlier this year, the ICA announced that its specialist certificate in corporate governance was being offered in Spanish for the first time, in partnership with ICT and Impact on Integrity España.