Review - Certified Commercial Cannabis Expert (CCCE) certification
Ian Messenger
I recently undertook the Certified Commercial Cannabis Expert (CCCE) certification offered by the Association of Certified Commercial Cannabis Experts (ACCCE). Why? The legalisation of Cannabis in Canada presents a range of opportunities, challenges and risks. Compliance Officers need a strong knowledge of the sector in order to understand the various risks posed throughout the end-to-end Cannabis production lifecycle in order differentiate ‘suspicious’ from sector-specific transactions.
I am launching a Cannabis Compliance and Risk Management course in 2021 and, like many other of my course offerings, I see great value in linking Academic study with Industry certification. The course will feed into the CCCE certification and prepare students to - with some personal additional study - take the CCCE exam resulting in both an academic qualification and industry certification.
In order to link my program to an Industry certification I had to find one that I would recommend. As this review will show, the Certified Commercial Cannabis Expert (CCCE) certification is one to consider for those Compliance Officers who are based in jurisdictions where Cannabis is legal - and those where it may not be legal but where financial institutions may be exposed to illicit Cannabis actors.
Certification Content
The content of the Certified Commercial Cannabis Expert (CCCE) certification is based on ACCCE’s Commercial Cannabis Handbook and the handbook serves as the study guide from where the exam questions are drawn from.
The structure of the handbook includes:
Breakdown of the Commercial Cannabis Industry
Cannabis Risk Management Framework
Risk Assessment
The Breakdown of the Commercial Cannabis Industry section clearly outlines each stage of the Cannabis lifecycle from growing to selling - and identifies the risks faced and regulatory requirements at each stage. This section is important to Compliance Officers as financial crime risks can occur at each and every stage of the Cannabis lifecycle.
The Cannabis Risk Management Framework section considers a multi-stage risk management framework which is appropriate to the commercial cannabis industry. Each stage is clearly articulated and serves as a robust guide for the Cannabis risk manager.
The Risk Assessment section provides a strong knowledge base of the risk assessment process applicable to the cannabis industry. It identifies the roles and responsibilities of each member of the risk assessment process / framework. This section presents a range of Risk Areas / Risk Drivers which are applicable to the commercial cannabis industry and is especially useful to Compliance Officers working directly in the cannabis industry - and Compliance Officers with exposure to the Cannabis industry.
Delivery Format
The Commercial Cannabis Handbook - the study guide - is available as a series of webpages on the ACCCE website. It does not exist as a PDF or printed option. This would be an “even better if” in my opinion.
The exam is also delivered online and is welcome in the COVID-19 era. There are 80 multiple choice questions in the exam covering all aspects of the Commercial Cannabis Handbook. The questions are a mix of fact-based questions and scenarios.
Once you pass the exam, you receive your certificate via email followed by a printed version in the mail.
Time Investment and Learning Strategy
I studied for the CCCE over the course of 3 weeks, reviewing each section and considering how the knowledge would apply in practice.
Price
As of October 2020 the purchase price of the CCCE package is USD $1,195. This includes access to the study guide, other online learning materials, and exam.
Would I recommend the Certified Commercial Cannabis Expert (CCCE) certification?
Financial Crime Professionals or Compliance Officers who interact or may have exposure to the Cannabis sector and/or their clients should consider this certification.
Whilst concepts like risk management and risk assessment will be well-known to professionals, this certification takes them and frames them within the context of the Cannabis industry. The end-to-end study of the cannabis life-cycle from a risk perspective as well as the study of Cannabis specific risk areas and drivers provides knowledge that is not currently included in any other compliance certification. When conducting my initial research I noted that education resources relating to Cannabis Compliance and Risk Management are quite limited. The certification help to address this gap.
Following the legalisation of Cannabis in many jurisdictions, there are many new career opportunities and paths for Financial Crime Professionals and Compliance Officers. This certification represents one of the few industry mechanisms to demonstrate a level of knowledge and understanding of the risks posed by this sector.