Wanted: financial staff with suspicious nature

Banks, building societies and other financial institutions are desperately seeking compliance staff. Recruiters say demands by the government for greater regulation of financial institutions, have created a raft of new jobs. However, most employers have failed to plan for this and training for in-house staff has been almost non-existent.

Until recently, poaching experienced managers from rival firms with offers of increases in salary and benefits filled the gaps, but the well is now running dry and finance companies are looking outside the industry to other related areas to fill the vacancies.

Jobs covering anti-money laundering, financial crime and risk assessment are top of the agenda as banks and insurers struggle to comply with regulations laid down by the Financial Services Authority.

The soaring demand for compliance staff is across the board but is being felt most keenly in middle and senior management roles, reports Complinet, the online publisher and specialist compliance training provider to the financial services industry.

Kia McIntosh of recruiter Michael Page says new regulations governing the sale of mortgages last October and general insurance in January, including Lloyd's of London, have forced banks and insurers to look more widely for likely candidates.

Fergus Hooley, manager at recruiters Joslin Rowe, says: "The market is very candidate driven as opposed to company driven. The biggest area is in the £45,000-£65,000 bracket, which is where the gap is. Candidates with five to six years' experience are in huge demand."

Sarah Carter, principal consultant, handling recruitment in the finance sector at PSD Group says: "The increase in powers of the FSA for general insurance and mortgages has brought lots of demand for experienced compliance professionals.

"In retail compliance there is a demand all over the country; however for posts in investment management, the roles are more concentrated in London."

Simon Keating, head of risk compliance at Integral Search & Selection says: "There is a huge demand for experienced candidates, especially in the recently regulated mortgage and insurance sector. There is a steady demand for applicants with good knowledge of banking products and/or a background in the insurance industry willing to train up as compliance officers."

According to Marnie Woolf, director at PSD Group, the Market Abuse Directive, which compels firms to report any suspicions to the regulator, is boosting recruitment in the areas of fund management where fixed income and equities compliance positions are influencing hiring trends.

The entry point for most people is as a compliance assistant. Entrants tend to be either accountants or solicitors who have decided not to practice in the area where they have qualified, or have spent some time in this area before pursuing compliance as an alternative, second career.

In addition, some compliance assistants have had experience in an investment operations or an administrative role before "discovering" compliance.

Typically, they will be responsible for monitoring and carrying out the administrative aspects of the department.

Some organisations will offer their compliance assistants a greater variety of work - including ad hoc projects and advisory work, but often resources in the department are too stretched to allow training in these areas.

Most compliance assistants are aged 23-28, ambitious and keen to further their career. This, coupled with the fact that for some people this is a second career, means that the average length of time a compliance assistant stays with one company tends to be 12 to 24 months.

The 2004/5 season saw a shortage of candidates at this level, owing to a lack of trainees recruited during the market downturn of 2002/3. This shortage was exacerbated by growth within the industry, causing a need to recruit at this level.

This demand has been responsible for a large increase in salaries. Compliance assistants with just one or two years' experience are pulling in salaries of around £32,000 - up by 12% from last year. And compliance managers with four to five years' experience have seen their salaries rise by 16% to around £45,000.

Monitoring is often a thorny issue for compliance officers. On one hand, the Financial Services Authority does not set out specific guidance for firms. On the other, the regulator has made it abundantly clear that it will come down heavily on firms that do not have adequate programmes in place.

Marnie Woolf says: "Compliance officers are often promoted from within the business. In many instances there are simply not the relevant resources internally to promote individuals internally and these skills need to be bought in. Therefore, at this stage, experience gained to date is critical."

Simon Keating of Integral Search & Selection says: "Compliance work is seen as more back office support work, which will appeal to those with an eye for detail but not to those who are seeking the more glamourous roles as front office traders."

Mr McIntosh says science graduates and MBAs are also in the running, though for the moment the regulator itself is grabbing the plaudits. "The FSA is bringing in biochemists and other bright and hungry people rather than just staff who have come through the bank or insurance route.

"There is also a demand for bright applicants from the public sector, where rigorous financial regulation is very much to the fore. Many big firms will need to follow the regulator's lead."

The new regulatory regime covering hedge funds is also creating vacancies for compliance experts. The small hedge fund managers often seek compliance staff who can work part-time.

"The part-time jobs offered by hedge fund managers are a perfect opportunity for those wishing to combine childcare and a career in compliance, consultants and the semi-retired, but they must have experience of working for fund managers," says Marnie Woolf.

Financial firms are also keen to recruit anti-money laundering compliance officers. However, basic requirements for roles, even at entry level, are set high. A good career base would be a law, accountancy, economics or business degree.

And there are now recognised qualifications for compliance professionals, such as the masters in financial regulation and compliance management at the London Metropolitan University.