CCO - Head of Compliance & Anti-Financial Crime (AFC) - Sydney

Scope and Purpose

The Head of Compliance and AML is responsible for leading the Sydney branch's compliance risk management program and for ensuring that Sydney Branch has risk-based policies, procedures, and controls, designed to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, policies and applicable guidance of local regulators, ensuring alignment with ISP Head Office (HO). The Head of Compliance and AFC holds the role of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF compliance officer) and is also the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) of the branch. He/She acts as primary point of contact for ISP HO in regulatory compliance and AFC matters with Australian regulatory authorities. The main activities are: • Ensuring adherence to applicable Branch policy, procedures and guidelines. Assessing, monitoring and overseeing the management of risk associated with money laundering, terrorist finance, breach of embargoes and Bribery and Corruption. • Ensuring alignment with regulatory obligations through the identification and interpretation of the external regulations and the assessment of the impact of the applicable laws on the Branch processes and procedures. • Proposing operational, organisational and procedural amendments aimed at ensuring adequate control of the risks. • Producing the Branch Annual Risk Assessment elements for money laundering, terrorist financing and breach of embargoes. Assessing inherent risks, control efficacy, residual risk and recommend appropriate mitigation actions. • Ensuring the adoption and implementation of the direction provided by the Parent Company with regard to risk-management policies, processes and procedures with respect to financial crime • Liaising with the Supervisory Authorities to stay up to date on the legislative framework and operating in compliance with regulations in force with regard to the Branch business model. • Operating an Oversight program to ensure adherence to local regulatory requirements fo rmoney laundering, terrorist financing, breach of embargoes and Bribery and Corruptions. • Authorising the opening and maintaining of existing relationships with PEPs, high risk customers, Financial Institutions and appropriately manage customers who are found to be included in the Sanctions Lists. • Ensuring assistance to the Branch's units on the interpretation and application of external and internal rules. • Assessing and facilitating new product approval and services to be marketed and/or significant changes to existing ones. • Assessing the compliance of corporate transactions identified as sensitive for the purpose of embargoes and those that involve countries, product categories, or parties subject to sanctions and/or restrictive measures. • Monitoring the adequacy and effective application of the internal processes and procedures and the correct application of the control framework by the operational and business unit performing second level controls. • Overseeing the remediation of non-compliance issues including timely resolution of Internal Audit findings, self-disclosed non-compliance issues, remediation commitments and the recommendations of the Compliance Monitoring Plan. 

Required Experience

• Minimum eight years of experience in Compliance & AML in banks/financial institutions/local regulators; • Strong knowledge and experience in managing local regulatory requirements; • Extensive experience in conducting risk assessments; • Experience in KYC framework definition and KYC/CRA processes, AML Transaction Monitoring and Sanctions screening within a banking environment. 

Competencies Required

• Ability to apply critical thinking skills; meet deadlines; multitask and work in a fast-paced environment; have strong decision making, analytical and creative thinking skills; sound judgement and have excellent communication skills (both written and oral), organisational and follow-up skills; and be detail-oriented with a strong work ethic. • Ability to communicate complex findings in clear concise manner • Comprehensive understanding of typical financial institutions' policies and procedures in place to ensure compliance with applicable regulations; • Ability to research laws and regulations and provide advice on the applicability within a given environment; • Deep understanding of the investment management/financial business; • Positive attitude towards colleagues and the organisation to ensure seamless communication; 

Required Qualifications, Skills and Knowledge

• University degree in law, finance and/or economics; • English native speaker, Italian is an advantage; • Good knowledge of local and international Economic Sanctions laws and regulations; • Good knowledge of AML/CTF local and EU international, regulations and requirements; • Knowledge of Anti-Bribery and corruption regulations; • Knowledge of international Compliance regulations and international practices; • Deep understanding of the Australian regulatory environment and expectations; • Good command of Microsoft Office. • Familiarity with various corporate structures e.g. Funds, Trusts, SPVs, etc is an advantage; • Knowledge of financial institutions, correspondent banks and of trade finance products;