We use cookies to improve and customise your experience, for analytics and metrics, and to track any purchases you make both on this website and on others. To find out more about the cookies we use see our cookie policy
More info
- Use your attention to detail to ensure that your company is working in line with regulations
- Help to roll out the implementation of new regulations
- Maintain the relationship between your bank and the financial regulators
As a compliance analyst, you'll work in a 'middle office' role in an investment bank.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Ensure that a bank is operating within the regulations and laws of the country
- Admin: reviewing files, and monitoring phone calls and emails
At the start of your career you'll be:
- Researching new regulations and how it will impact different lines of business within your bank
- Preparing for inspections from financial regulators
- Assisting your seniors to ensure that the bank is up to date with current rules and ready for the implementation of future pieces of regulation
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You'll most likely work long hours and your working environment may be stressful. You'll be based in an office.
You'll need
To be a compliance analyst, you'll need to work well under pressure, good time management skills, excellent critical and analytical thinking ability, team-work and leadership skills, good communication skills, and attention to detail.
You might need a degree in a numerate subject to work in compliance. A lot of banks offer graduate schemes and internships. A key tip to get ahead of the competition would be to try and get an internship while you are at university. If you do well on the internship then they might give you a full-time offer to begin once you have completed your studies.
You might not necessarily need specific qualifications, but compliance is becoming increasingly important, and with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), qualifications are also becoming more important. There are a range of courses available but those provided by the International Compliance Association (ICA) are respected by employers.
CAREER PROSPECTS
As you become more senior, you will eventually gain responsibility for subject matter expertise and responding to queries from the 'front office' teams. In the director level roles, you will be helping to set your bank's specific policies under a regulation.
Being a 'middle office' role, compliance tends to be less competitive to get into than the 'front office' divisions and. While compensation packages are lower in the middle office, there is generally a far better work-life balance. With that being said, a consistent level of high quality work can get you noticed and transferred to a 'front office' role.
Some compliance analysts go on to work for hedge funds in similar roles later on in their careers, while some are poached by the financial regulators or the 'big 4' accountancy firms.