Senior Associate – Financial Crime Operations

THE COMPANY:

Our client is a successful retail and corporate banking firm. They are looking to hire a Senior Associate within the Financial Crime Operations team.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES:

Transaction Monitoring:

• Investigate transaction monitoring alerts generated by automated monitoring systems.
• Analyse customer transactional behaviour to identify unusual or suspicious activity.
• Determine whether alerts represent genuine financial crime concerns or false positives.
• Escalate suspicious matters to the MLRO through internal Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs).
• Ensure investigations are completed within agreed service levels.

Sanctions Screening:

• Review customer and payment sanctions screening alerts.
• Investigate potential sanctions matches using internal systems and external intelligence.
• Escalate confirmed or potential sanctions concerns in accordance with Bank policy.
• Support sanctions list maintenance and screening effectiveness reviews.

Fraud Risk Management:

• Investigate fraud alerts 
• Identify emerging fraud trends and recommend control improvements.
• Support fraud prevention initiatives

Customer Due Diligence:

• Review complex onboarding cases and enhanced due diligence documentation.
• Assess high-risk customers and complex ownership structures.
• Verify Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs), directors, trustees, authorised signatories and other related parties.
• Ensure customer records comply with AML and sanctions requirements.

Financial Crime Investigations:

• Conduct detailed investigations into potential money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions breaches and fraud.
• Liaise with business units to obtain supporting evidence.
• Maintain comprehensive investigation records and audit trails.
• Produce clear investigation reports with appropriate recommendations.

Financial Crime Systems:

• Support ongoing optimisation of transaction monitoring and sanctions screening systems.
• Participate in threshold, rule and scenario reviews.
• Identify opportunities to improve system effectiveness and reduce false positives.
• Assist in user acceptance testing (UAT) for financial crime system enhancements.

Regulatory Compliance:

• Assist in implementing regulatory changes affecting Financial Crime Operations.
• Ensure compliance with internal policies, procedures and risk appetite.

Governance and Risk:

• Contribute to periodic risk assessments and control reviews.
• Support internal and external audits.
• Identify process improvements to strengthen financial crime controls.
• Maintain accurate management information and operational metrics.

Quality Assurance:

• Ensure investigations are completed to a consistently high standard.
• Support quality assurance reviews and implement feedback. Promote continuous improvement across Financial Crime Operations.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Experience within Financial Crime Operations in a UK regulated financial institution.
• Strong knowledge of AML, CTF, sanctions and fraud prevention.
• Experience investigating transaction monitoring and sanctions alerts.
• Understanding of customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence.
• Knowledge of UK financial crime legislation and regulatory expectations.
• Excellent analytical and investigative skills.
• Strong report writing and communication skills.

For further information please contact Natalie Eshelby