Financial Crime Compliance Manager

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Job Summary

The role of a Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) Manager is critical in ensuring that an organization effectively mitigates the risk of financial crimes, including money laundering, fraud, terrorist financing, and other illicit financial activities. The responsibilities encompass a broad range of activities to ensure regulatory compliance, safeguard the organization's reputation, and protect its assets. The FCC Manager will support the MLRO/DMLRO in ensuring that the Financial Crime framework within the bank is in accordance with Group policies and procedures, Absa Principal Risks, and local regulatory requirements. The Job Holder would also be the focal point of contact for all financial crime related queries by providing value-added advice to the business and management of stakeholders at every level of the organization.

Job Description

    Financial Crime Advisory

• Provide technical advice on a wide range of financial crime-related matters. This includes providing in-depth knowledge of anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF), sanctions compliance, fraud prevention, and other related areas.

• Interpret and apply complex regulatory requirements and assist senior management in understanding how these apply to the organization’s operations. This ensures that the organization remains compliant with evolving legal and regulatory frameworks.

• Provide case-specific advice, helping the organization manage and respond to incidents of potential financial crime. This could involve guidance on how to handle suspicious transactions, how to conduct investigations, and when to report incidents to regulators.

Financial Crime specific tasks – Sanctions, Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC)
Sanctions Risk Assessment:

• Assist in reviewing alerts at Level 2/3 generated by screening systems and escalate potential issues for further investigation.

• Contribute to conducting a risk assessment of the organization’s activities, customers, and geographies to identify potential exposure to sanctions risks.

• Assist in determining the impact of sanctions on ongoing or future business relationships and transactions.

Anti Money Laundering (AML):

• Support the AML risk assessment process to identify potential vulnerabilities in the organization’s operations or customer base.

• Assist in the review of internal AML controls and policies, ensuring they are up-to-date and compliant with current regulations.

Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC):

• Help maintain clear guidelines on what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable conduct, including the provision and receipt of gifts, hospitality, and other inducements.

•  Support the process of conducting due diligence on third parties, such as suppliers, contractors, agents, and partners, to ensure they do not have a history of involvement in bribery or corruption.

• Assist in evaluating third-party risk and ensuring that appropriate controls are in place to mitigate the risk of bribery or corruption through intermediaries.

• Promote a culture of ethics and integrity by ensuring that staff understand the importance of compliance with ABC regulations.

Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management:

• Ensure the organization adheres to all relevant anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF), sanctions, and fraud prevention regulations.

• Develop and maintain policies, procedures, and controls to identify, assess, and mitigate financial crime risks.

• Conduct regular risk assessments to ensure compliance with evolving laws and regulations, identifying potential gaps in the organization’s financial crime prevention measures.

Policy and Procedure Development:

• Design, implement, and update internal policies and procedures to detect and prevent financial crimes.

• Ensure these policies are in line with current legal requirements and best practices in the industry.

• Communicate policy changes and updates to all relevant stakeholders to ensure consistent adherence across the organization.

Monitoring and Detection Systems:

• Review the implementation and management of monitoring and detection systems to identify suspicious transactions and activities.

• Manage the reporting of suspicious activities, including filing Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) with regulatory authorities.

• Collaborate with IT and data analytics teams to enhance the effectiveness of surveillance and reporting systems.

• Ensure the adoption of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning for early detection of anomalies or suspicious behavior.

Training and Awareness:

• Design and deliver training programs to raise awareness about financial crime risks and compliance obligations among staff.

• Ensure that employees at all levels are aware of their responsibilities in preventing and reporting financial crime.

• Create a culture of compliance within the organization, emphasizing ethical behavior and the importance of regulatory adherence.

Internal and External Reporting:

• Prepare and submit reports to management and regulatory bodies regarding financial crime risks, compliance status, and suspicious activities.

• Act as a liaison with external authorities, regulators, law enforcement agencies, and auditors in matters related to financial crime compliance.

• Coordinate the submission of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and other mandatory reports as required by law.

Incident Response and Investigation:

• Lead investigations into potential financial crime incidents, including fraud, money laundering, or violations of sanctions.

• Collaborate with relevant teams (e.g., legal, audit, and IT) to assess the impact of suspicious activities and develop corrective actions.

• Ensure that incidents are promptly addressed and that the organization’s response is appropriate and compliant with legal requirements.

• Oversee the development of corrective actions and ensure that incidents are addressed promptly to minimize organizational risk.

Continuous Improvement:

• Continuously assess and improve the financial crime compliance program to enhance effectiveness and adapt to emerging risks.

• Regularly review and update the financial crime compliance framework to adapt to new threats, regulatory changes, and emerging best practices.

• Foster a proactive approach to compliance, identifying and addressing potential risks before they escalate into significant issues.

• Implement corrective actions as needed to address identified weaknesses or inefficiencies in the compliance program.

Team Management and Development:

• Assist in managing the financial crime compliance team, ensuring adequate resources, training, and performance management.

• Foster collaboration and a proactive approach to addressing financial crime risks within the team and across the organization.

• Ensure the team is up to date on the latest regulatory changes and industry practices through ongoing professional development.

 Teamwork
 

• Generate and compile all Financial Crime related MI as and when required for submission by MLRO/DMLRO.

• Compiling data/ information pertaining to the completion of the annual Financial Crime Risk assessment.

• Assist Financial Crime Team as and when required in for submission of Key Financial Crime deliverables

Stakeholder relations

•  Maintain excellent relationship with the business team to ensure achievement of Business goals.

• Ensure prompt and adequate financial crime responses and support to business

• Be up to date with all applicable policies and regulations governing financial crime

• Liaise with Legal counsel as and when required for legal advice

• Assist MLRO/DMLRO in ensuring coverage of Financial Crime Training (AML, Sanctions, ABC) training plan for the year. 

• Assist business with any financial crime queries (including KYC), providing value advice and managing Stakeholders when necessary.

 

Role/Person Specification
Preferred Education:   

•  Degree in Management, Accounting and Economics with minimum 5 years relevance experience or equivalent of 8 years bank related experience 

• A professional qualification in Compliance/FCC

Preferred Experience:  

• Experience of AML, KYC or sanctions, Financial Crime roles

• Good working knowledge on international banking and trade and finance products

Knowledge & Skills:   

• Advanced knowledge of the AML/KYC/Sanctions/PEP’s/ Financial Crime/ Compliance Policies and procedures

• Good understanding of payment flow through the bank

• Good understanding of the banking products and services

• Strong Knowledge on local AML legislation and restrictions in place 

• Good presentation skills
   

Technical Competencies:     

• Effective written and oral communication skills, (drafting reports and presentations)

• Proficiency in writing instructions and training material 

• Good knowledge of MS Office, IT conversant and ability for technology integration such as Artificial Intelligence (AI)
   

Education

Higher Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)