Our wide and deep client-base of financial services organisations are obsessed with financial crime. But theirs is not an irrational obsession. Their hyperawareness of all aspects of financial crime – fraud, electronic crime, money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption, market abuse, insider dealing and cybertheft – is not a response to potential and theoretical risk. It’s a reaction to yesterday’s newspaper describing how it’s happened yet again. And this state of extraordinary vigilance is not one that is destined to disappear or even reduce – it is simply the new reality. As a professional operating in one or more areas of fin crime we have detailed, you are a member of a guard, prized by our clients, that will never stand down.
That’s why we would like to talk to you. As a firm, McGregor Boyall specialises in recruiting for those interfaces where technology meets governance. Our technology recruiters have long worked with our risk, compliance and legal recruiters. More recently financial crime recruitment has become an independent function with its own specialist recruiters who would to talk to you about your career options whether as a permanent employee or as an interim/contractor.
Contract role with a leading global corporate and institutional bank
Being part of a specific due diligence team as a Remediation Analyst, responsible for the creation of new and review CDD remediation cases.
International Direct Debit Payments Processor
Permanent role at a B2B payments firm as Head of Compliance & MLRO.
International Direct Debit Payments Processor
Junior role at a B2B payments firm to check payments from clients across the world, respond to customer emails and review documentation.
Tier 1 Global Bank
Contract role to support and assist in the management of the Registrations Function for the delivery of plans and objectives.
A Leading European Investment Bank
A contract role focusing on running checks on new clients to ensure they are compliant with both the bank's and industries' policies and procedures.
Tier 1 Investment Bank
A junior contract role with key responsibilities to conduct due diligence checks on new and existing clients, compile research data and ensure the correct levels of checks are made on each client.
Leading Tier 1 Global Bank
A senior full-time position requiring the candidate to be a subject matter expert in a variety of financial crime areas and advise on them accordingly.
A leading European Investment Bank
Conducting screening checks on new and existing counterparties to ensure they are in line with national and international sanctions policies.
A leading Tier 1 global Bank
Our candidate was required to create and implement strategies and standards for the wholesale side of the business, focusing on AML.
Contract role with a leading global corporate and institutional bank
Being part of a specific due diligence team as a Remediation Analyst, responsible for the creation of new and review CDD remediation cases.
International Direct Debit Payments Processor
Permanent role at a B2B payments firm as Head of Compliance & MLRO.
International Direct Debit Payments Processor
Junior role at a B2B payments firm to check payments from clients across the world, respond to customer emails and review documentation.
Tier 1 Global Bank
Contract role to support and assist in the management of the Registrations Function for the delivery of plans and objectives.
A Leading European Investment Bank
A contract role focusing on running checks on new clients to ensure they are compliant with both the bank's and industries' policies and procedures.
Tier 1 Investment Bank
A junior contract role with key responsibilities to conduct due diligence checks on new and existing clients, compile research data and ensure the correct levels of checks are made on each client.
Leading Tier 1 Global Bank
A senior full-time position requiring the candidate to be a subject matter expert in a variety of financial crime areas and advise on them accordingly.
A leading European Investment Bank
Conducting screening checks on new and existing counterparties to ensure they are in line with national and international sanctions policies.
A leading Tier 1 global Bank
Our candidate was required to create and implement strategies and standards for the wholesale side of the business, focusing on AML.
We want to talk to you. Drop us a line and tell us about yourself!
Our Risk, Finance & Compliance Market Insights Report & Salary Guide 2020 provides the latest insights on the market collated by our specialist Risk, Fiance & Compliance Recruitment Teams, and from data collected from surveying our clients and candidates.
London, 10th March 2020: Global recruitment specialists McGregor Boyall are pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Geist as Head of Practice -Regulation, Compliance and Financial Crime. Geist has over 15 years’ experience in the Compliance and Financial Crime space.
He has successfully placed regulatory and compliance candidates at all levels across banking and financial services both in UK and Internationally. Geist began his compliance recruitment career at a FTSE listed recruitment firm in 2005. Starting as a Consultant he quickly progressing to heading up the team and establishing himself as one of the leading recruiters in the compliance industry. He is a business graduate from the University of London.
Commenting on his appointment Geist said, “I am delighted to have taken-up this position and I’m excited by the prospect of enhancing McGregor Boyall’s reputation as a specialist Compliance & Financial Crime recruitment firm.”
“McGregor Boyall have a well-established and impressive reputation in the UK,” continues Paul “and I am looking forward to working closely with our international offices to expand our recruitment services.”
“I am delighted to have Paul on board to build on, and expand our Compliance and Financial Crime Practice” said Group CEO Laurie Boyall “his experience speaks for itself, and his proven track record of delivery in this space means he will be an excellent addition to the McGregor Boyall team.”
Our Scotland Salary Guide 2019 provides the latest salary data collated by our specialist Recruitment Teams covering:
At the end of 2017, the Government announced its strategy to fight financial crime in the UK and internationally. In a bid to cement the UK's position as an international financial centre – potentially under threat in the wake of Brexit – Theresa May appointed MP John Penrose as the anti-corruption champion to oversee the new measures. The strategy is intended to strengthen the UK's financial integrity internally, increase cooperation internationally and fight corruption.
To achieve this, there are (several) new sheriffs in town. But what are the new measures, and what do UK companies have to do to ensure they don't fall foul?
The Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD)
The 5AMLD, finalised on 19 June 2018, closely follows the 4AMLD, which only came into force in June 2017. This is an EU directive and not a direct part of the Government's strategy, although it supports the goal of combatting money laundering, particularly in regards to terrorist activity.
Fortunately for UK companies, the latest directive is not as extensive as the fourth, which necessitated wholesale changes in the ways businesses approached money laundering.
The Fifth Directive focuses its gaze on cryptocurrencies, prepaid cards, high-value goods (above £10,000) and those dealing with high-risk third countries. It also requires companies to be more transparent with lists of Beneficial Ownership and Politically Exposed Persons. If this applies to your company, you should ensure you're compliant by the deadline in 2020.
Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS)
To further strengthen the country's Anti-Money Laundering Capabilities, the Government set up the new OPBAS. Based within the FCA, the watchdog is another effort to fight terrorist financing within the UK.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said:
'This new watchdog will deepen the government’s partnership with the private sector as we work together to tackle illicit finance whilst minimising the burdens on legitimate businesses. This sends a clear message to criminals and terrorists that their dirty money is not welcome here.'
The Government's goal is to ensure the UK's current 25 anti-money-laundering supervisors meet the standards set out in the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and has powers to investigate and penalise those who do not. Legitimate businesses will see little change in their day-to-day activities.
National Economic Crime Centre (NECC)
At the head of all these measures, former Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced the creation of the NECC in December 2017. The move also included appointing a new Minister for Economic Crime in the Home Office and staff from across the government and private sector.
The goal for the NECC is to improve intelligence into money laundering, increasing analytical capabilities and better coordinating the response to high-end economic crime, particularly organised crime and terrorism.
Thankfully for companies in the UK, these measures shouldn't mean them having to change the way they work too drastically or spend lots of time implementing new policies or procedures. Instead, providing they work as intended, the strategy should keep them protected from the ill effects of financial crime.
We look at the rise and rise of RegTech companies, all using AI and machine learning to help companies combat financial crime
For Financial Technology companies, business is booming. By definition, FinTechs are small and agile, able to shift rapidly and develop new technologies at pace in order to capitalise on new markets.
They are also a perfect target for financial crime. As fast as they can develop, so too can unscrupulous criminals looking to take advantage of gaps – gaping holes, in some cases – in new systems whose ambition more than often outstrips their regulatory compliance.
Enter RegTechs. These are regulatory technology companies that focus on software solutions to help financial institutions automate and streamline their regulatory activity. And it’s lucrative – the market for RegTechs is estimated to reach $118.7 billion by 2020.
Risky Business
The rapid rise of FinTechs has, in some cases, left cracks that can be exploited by financial crime. Their focus tends towards an excellent customer experience – it’s what sets them apart from the big, traditional banks. Moving quickly to stay ahead of wealthier competitors means there’s pressure to develop new solutions quickly – and the high degree of automation can also leave room for error.
Their strengths in terms of agility may also prove their weakness when it comes to compliance. Unlike the big banks, startups often have small teams who are fighting to keep up with ever expanding regulation. As well as this, they lack the ‘organisational memory’ of big institutions and can struggle to attract and pay experienced heads.
High-profile cases like those of Trustbuddy and Ripple Labs highlight just how far south things can go for founders, investors and customers.
Gap in the market
This is where RegTech comes in. This new breed of technology’s main uses include stress-testing financial forecasting, automating and monitoring regulatory changes, and email and filtering and monitoring. Not always the most glamorous topics, but absolutely vital to the smooth running of financial businesses.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are at the heart of RegTech software, and are used to analyse and make sense of data at its biggest. The idea is that they are easy to integrate, more reliable, secure and cost-effective, and quick to adapt to regulatory changes and criminal activity. They make it easier for companies to stay compliant.
Regtech companies to keep your eye on
There are new RegTech companies popping up all the time – here are some of the top players. To be fair to the start-ups, it’s not just smaller FinTech companies that are benefitting.
Ayasdi, which uses machine intelligence to solve a variety of regulatory and compliance-related problems including Anti Money Laundering and financial risk modelling, count Citi and Credit Suisse among its clients.
Similarly, in the US, Standard Chartered has appointed Silent Eight to screen customers, using natural language processing matching against watchlists, and learning to carry out assessments as a human would respond.
How to stay one step ahead
Like all new technologies, although they claim to be easy to integrate, in reality it can be more difficult. Proprietary systems will all be different and so custom integrations are often needed – mistakes can be very costly.
Hiring employees who have been through the process before can be beneficial and help solve any problems before they’ve even started.
Although still in its infancy, RegTech is here to stay. Once integrated, the benefits are many. Including helping your compliance teams sleep at night.
Our England Regions Salary Guide 2019 provides the latest salary data collated by our specialist Recruitment Teams covering:
Our Compliance, Finance / Audit, Financial Crime, Legal & Risk Market Insights Report & Salary Guide 2019 provides the latest insights on the market collated by our RFCL Recruitment Team, and from data collected from surveying our clients and candidates.
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