en
Jobs

Our industry specialists will listen to your aspirations and share your story with Canadas’s most prestigious organisations. Together, let’s write the next chapter of your career.

See all jobs
Services

Canada's leading employers trust us to deliver fast, efficient hiring solutions that are tailored to their exact requirements. Browse our range of bespoke services and resources.

Read more
About Robert Walters Canada

For us, recruitment is more than just a job. We understand that behind every opportunity is the chance to make a difference in people's lives.

Learn more

Work for us

Our people are the difference. Hear stories from our people to learn more about a career at Robert Walters Canada

Learn more

The growing role of compliance within banks

While the importance of compliance officers is well established, their value to financial institutions has taken on increasing significance with the influx of regulatory initiatives and fines following the financial crisis of 2007-2009.

Since then, Canada and US regulators have been ramping up their efforts to prevent money laundering and cracking down on small to medium financial institutions as well as the big name banks.

Why is compliance so crucial right now?

"Regulators aren’t just more aggressively pursuing institutions who break the law. Higher penalties are being imposed on lawbreakers. Compliance has become a pivotal issue for banks, because failing to do their due diligence on customers and transactions leaves a company open to scrutiny and litigation," says Martin Fox, Managing Director at Robert Walters Toronto.

If a client’s fraudulent scheme benefits a bank, and the bank willfully fails to file a Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR), the bank’s actions may make it a co-conspirator and susceptible to private litigation. This is motivating financial institutions to hold themselves to a much higher level of accountability for their actions.

Where do compliance officers fit into all of this?

Compliance officers help organizations set a path for effective compliance in conjunction with the organizations’ broader strategic goals. The most common compliance risks a company faces have to do with data privacy, bribery and corruption, and industry-specific risks. Compliance officers are charged with determining how to protect their particular organizations from all risks.

CCOs (Chief Compliance Officers) are always under pressure to prove that their programs are effective. They must develop simple protocols for reviewing compliance issues, create internal control processes to review STRs, ensure reports are filed promptly, and provide training to all employees whose jobs touch on compliance in any way. Officers must also be willing to undergo regular voluntary audits of their programs.

Where do compliance officers come from?

Generally, compliance officers are trained as lawyers or accountants. With the ever increasing number of opportunities in the market for compliance professionals, many people see this as a good time to try to make the move into this area.

For professionals interested in transitioning into compliance from law or accounting, most opportunities exist for junior roles in established teams. Where there is a team already in place and the function is built on a solid foundation, a new compliance professional with an accounting or legal background has the ability to learn from their peers as well as develop their transferrable skills.

Given the importance of compliance to any firm's ability to conduct business effectively, and with this only expected to grow, this is an exciting time to be working in compliance or considering a move into this area.  

Share this article

Useful links

Sign up for job alerts
Salary Survey
Career Advice
Get in touch

Find out more by contacting one of our specialist recruitment consultants

Related content

View all

Six signs it's time to change jobs

So you’ve been in your job a good while, and you’ve noticed motivation is dwindling. Maybe you don’t feel challenged enough, or maybe you feel like you’re not moving in the direction you want any more. Even if you've enjoyed your time working in your current company and have built up a great rapport

Read More

Why are risk and Compliance professionals moving jobs?

Looking to take advantage of a thriving hiring market? With an acute candidate shortage and opportunities at an all-time high, now is the best time to capitalise on the demand of the market and uncover the risk & compliance jobs that match your career priorities, supports your work-life balance and

Read More

Private practice or in-house: what’s right for you?

Despite fluctuating economic conditions, demand has remained high for qualified accountants, and it's set to remain so for the foreseeable future. With this in mind, candidates are in a position to choose which career path suits them best; whether it’s working for an accountancy practice or in-house

Read More

I'm Robert Walters Are you?

Come join our global team of creative thinkers, problem solvers and game changers. We offer accelerated career progression, a dynamic culture and expert training.