Compliance Risk Review Specialist

Environment

Societe Generale is one of the leading financial services groups in Europe. Present in over 50 countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia. Societe Generale provides corporate, financial institutions, investors and public sector clients with value-added integrated financial solutions.

CPLE/CTL's mandate is to operate, within the 3 Lines of Defense model, a 2nd Level Controls and Testing framework, from both a regulatory and financial crime perspective, based around a robust compliance risk assessment, which drives the prioritization of the control plan.

The objective of 2nd Level Controls and Testing is to assess and test independently the adequacy of the 1st and 2nd Lines of Defense (LOD1 & LOD2) compliance framework that Business Units (BU) and Support Units (SU) have put in place to mitigate the risks of non-compliance that SG Group is exposed to across its business activities and operations regionally.

The CTL team is positioned as a second line of defence in the bank's internal control framework and has a specific mandate within Compliance, with the objective to measure, test, detect and report the risk of non-compliance. The responsibilities of the Asia regional team include:

• Collect and analyse compliance risk indicators;
• Build a risk based yearly Control plan for APAC;
• Coordinate the annual Compliance Risk Assessment with Regional and Country Advisory Compliance for Asia;
• Plan and execute Compliance reviews covering wholesales bank activities within Asia;
• Monitor the control assessment of the Permanent Supervision in Asia; and
• Deliver recommendations and action plan to enhance the global control framework.

Summary of the key purposes of the role

• Ensure Compliance risks are identified and managed in a timely manner
• Plan and perform testing of the control framework and deliver Compliance reviews as required by the annual control plan
• Ensure timely tracking and resolution of CTL recommendations
• Maintain regular engagement and provide feedback with/to key business and Compliance stakeholders

Mission

Responsibilities:

Contribute to build and deliver on the annual Compliance control plan

• Analyze the results of the risk assessment campaign, key incidents, external enforcements, results of previous reviews, regulatory agenda and detect weak areas or process at risk. Narrow down the selection of priorities with the contribution of key compliance and business stakeholders across all the region.
• Perform Compliance and/or operational risk testing on controls.

Perform testing and deliver report with practical recommendations

• Manage end to end compliance thematic reviews and business processes by:

- Performing review activities, including scoping, testing, issue clearance, reporting; and
- Delivering work on schedule and in accordance with CTL standards and methodology;

• Timely escalation of any risk/issue to the APAC Compliance Risk Review Manager and/or Regional Head of CTL, including where there is a risk of delayed implementation or work resistance from the relevant stakeholders.
• Submit draft reports to, and obtain clearance from, the APAC Compliance Risk Review Manager prior to issuance and communication to the relevant business and Compliance stakeholders. Manage distribution of the review report to the relevant stakeholders and the recording of the issues/actions/recommendations in the database.
• Ensure timely tracking of issues/actions/recommendations and provide updated status on a regular basis.
• Provide periodic updates of the review status in weekly team meetings and update the team's activity report on a monthly basis. Comment on key risks/issues identified and highlight any potential slippage, and/or provide justification for slippage, if the anticipated delivery schedule is not going to be met.
• Maintain adequate and accurate working papers to evidence and support issues/actions/recommendations.

Team work & engagement with key stakeholders

• Collaborate and work with all staff involved in the execution of the reviews, providing support throughout the review life cycle (including the validation of the scoping document, the testing results, the validation/clearance of issues/actions/recommendations, and the issuance of the report).
• Support and share expertise on compliance and/or business specific knowledge/matters.
• Contribute to heighten awareness of major regulatory developments and its impact to the bank's activities from a risk management perspective.
• Develop and maintain effective partnership and working relationships with key businesses and Compliance stakeholders at all levels of organisation on the progress of the review.
• Maintain updated knowledge of the business line organisation as well as its strategic developments and key projects (including proactively participating in business meetings and/or risk committees, if required).

Other responsibilities

• Maintain a detailed and updated working knowledge of the FCA, SFC, HKMA, MAS rules and regulations, including Internal Controls/Policies.

Profile

Competencies

Technical knowledge

• Strong knowledge of regulations relating to financial services (FCA rules, EU directives, SFC, HKMA, and MAS etc)
• Good knowledge of Capital Markets and Investment Banking environment and associated products
• Solid data analytic skills with advanced Excel experience
• Ability to analyse trends, identify critical threats and opportunities, diagnose problems and issues and then recommend appropriate actions dealing with the underlying root causes

General Competencies

• Work independently with the ability to make difficult decisions
• Strong report writing skills
• Analytical & problem-solving skills
• Presentation skills
• Time management skills
• Team player

Work Experience

• Minimum of 8 to 10 years of work experience in the financial services industry, audit/testing, compliance or data science analysis background
• Experience in execution of reviews
• Broad business experience and a proven ability to influence
• Demonstrated ability in strong communication, organisational, analytical and people skills
• A self-starter with a proven track record in delivering results
• Experience in analysing large datasets, draw valid inferences and present them clearly to key stakeholders
• Have ability to work effectively with both local, regional and global stakeholders

Education

• Minimum of BA/BS required; MBA or any other advanced degree preferred but not required
• University Graduate in Law, Banking & Finance, Economics or Data Science/Analytics highly advantageous
• Professional diploma or qualifications in Compliance (eg. ACAMS, AAMLP, CFE) and/or Audit (eg. CA, CPA), preferred

Languages

• Fluent in English (reading, writing, verbal): strong verbal and written communication skills, ability to articulate concisely technical matters.