Compliance Officer - Bank

Position: Compliance Officer

Industry: Bank

Location: Chennai

Compliance Officer - Liabilities & Alternate Channels / Retail Assets / Corporate Banking / Treasury

- This position is responsible for providing compliance oversight.

- The dynamic regulatory environment requires the compliance officer to be able to comprehensively assess impact of changes on business processes and develop a strong compliance program to ensure effective implementation and governance on an ongoing basis.

Businesses covered:

- Entire suite of Retail Banking Products in the liabilities and assets.

- Focus on digital banking and alternate channels.

- Focus on inclusive banking and agriculture loans

- Corporate Banking, Treasury and Trade Finance Products.

Role Outline/Job Summary - 

- Recent regulatory reforms have seen increased focus on products that are offered by banks. The regulatory framework, under which this business operates, can be characterized through the following elements:

- Multiplicity of regulators, owing to orientation towards product regulation (RBI, IRDA, SEBI etc.)

- Adoption of global standards and regulatory themes by the regulators, at times requiring project level implementation

- High focus and sensitivity on adherence to Foreign Exchange Management Act

- More intensive supervision of Bank's procedures / policies through change management process (Risk Based Supervision).

Key Responsibilities:

- Drive timely implementation on regulatory changes across various points viz., product program, process notes, Regulatory Matrix, system development etc.

- Engage appropriately with the regulators during an inspection /review to clarify matters from a compliance perspective and to ensure timely submission of deliverables by the business.

- Drive an effective compliance management program through formulation of relevant policies, review of critical MIS, controls and regulatory customer complaints and timely escalation of issues.

- Independently interface with the Business Managers and Senior Management to regularly update the critical items in their respective businesses.

- Update Chief Compliance Officer on critical matters and in relation to its development / implementation.

- Facilitate training sessions on key compliance and regulatory matters to business.

In addition to the above, the compliance officer needs to develop a fair understanding of other business areas. This is an essential attribute required to achieve flexibility within the compliance team and thereby creating effective backups for every role

A. ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

Business/ Department -

Objectives:

1. Institute and maintain an effective compliance program that promotes: (a) clear understanding of new and existing compliance policies (b) heightened awareness of the Code of Conduct (c) a - no surprises- culture that ensures transparent and timely escalation of issues

2. Identify potential areas of compliance vulnerability and risk; develop/implement corrective action plans for resolution of issues, and provide general guidance on how to avoid or deal with similar situations in the future.

3. Provide clear and timely advice to business on regulatory guidelines/policies and track implementation.

4. Ensure regular and proactive engagement with the regulators and establish suitable working relationship with them.

5. Develop good working relationships with regulators based on the underlying principles of clear disclosures and transparency.

Core Responsibilities:

1. Disseminate and implement regulatory guidelines and policies.

2. Formulate compliance policies and procedures in adherence with the regulatory/ policy requirements and work closely with the businesses to implement compliance plans and framework, as designed.

3. Implement and maintain a reporting model to provide timely and relevant management information through appropriate reporting mechanisms (scorecards, dashboards, monthly management meetings).

4. Collaborate with other stakeholders to direct compliance issues to appropriate existing channels for reporting, review and resolution.

5. Review and approve relevant product programs/propositions, marketing programs and other aspects requiring independent compliance approval.

6. As part of Compliance Testing program, to work with business teams and understand the control design, efficiency and technology to ascertain any potential gaps in adherence to regulatory guidelines / policies. To be proactive to suggest risk mitigation plan to address business problems that pose the most risk to the organization.

7. Develop a strong compliance and control culture in the business.

Other responsibilities:

- Conduct, oversee and document periodic regulatory risk assessments to determine compliance risk.

- Develop, test and maintain policies and procedures for applicable regulatory and compliance requirements.

- Develop, oversee and prepare annual compliance review and periodic reports to senior management and Board of Directors.

- Work with senior management to develop and maintain controls to monitor effectiveness of compliance program and promptly address any noncompliance with laws, requirements, policies or procedures.

- Managed Regulatory relationships at various levels at RBI. This entailed handling Risk Based Supervision audits of RBI and other regulatory scrutiny. Responsibilities include pro- active engagement with Regulators on various developmental initiatives, strategic interactions.

- Conduct risk includes advising, managing and reviewing conduct risk embedded in customer conduct and markets conduct. Conflict of interest, client suitability, personal account dealing etc., would fall under this category.

- Customer conduct risk covers oversight over products and services sold to customers (policy, procedures, controls, governance etc.). These include retail, corporate, private banking and treasury products.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities:

1. Update product compliance risk grids to report key compliance deliverables, risks and updates.

2. Submission of various regulatory returns and responses to regulatory correspondences in a timely manner.

3. Monitor Key MIS and trends (customer complaints, open regulatory issues, governance issues) to assess the health of business in terms of overall compliance and control framework.

4. Work closely with business in ensuring that the Bank's policies and client facing communications are transparent, lucid and fall in line with the regulatory requirements.

Key Deliverables:

1. Independent risk assessment and decision making

2. Implementation of corrective action plans to remediate compliance/ regulatory matters

3. Monitoring performance of the Compliance Program like Compliance Risk assessment, Compliance Testing and related activities and taking appropriate steps to improve efficacy

4. Ensuring a culture of timely escalation of issues.

5. Proactive engagement with the regulators.

6. Develop a strong compliance and control culture in the business

To qualify for this role will require:

- Qualified Master's Degree or Company Secretary or LLB or Chartered Accountancy

- 10 - 15 years in core compliance or regulatory compliance in banking sector. Retail Banking preferred.

Sound knowledge of rules, regulations and statutory requirements from RBI and other regulatory bodies.

Skills:

Independent decision making, good interpersonal and communication skills, eye for detail, ability to provide strategic inputs, manage ambiguity and analysis to provide clear guidance.

B. DEVELOPMENT

Career Progression:

This compliance role provides the candidate an opportunity to interact & closely work with other seniors in compliance, operations and business. Regulatory compliance is a critical element in the banking business and may open up future opportunities within the compliance function and also in other functions depending upon the individuals- interest.