Senior Specialist Compliance - Client Acceptance Advisory

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About the Business area:

Compliance is an independent function at ADCB which takes an active approach to risk management and monitoring, ensuring the Bank complies with applicable laws, regulations, rules and market standards. The Group creates, implements and monitors policies and procedures designed to prevent or detect financial crime and any compliance breaches of the Bank, its employees and clients. It also monitors and measures the impact of conduct risk and compliance on the Bank’s risk appetite and profile.

In this role, your key responsibilities include:

• To complete due diligence on new-to-Bank client on-boarding, monitor existing clients to rule out money laundering/terrorist financing/sanctions risks, investigate and report unusual/suspicious cases to UAE Central Bank, de-risk flagged customers and perform system testing and maintenance in order to comply with regulatory requirements and mitigate risk for the Bank
• Review account opening/Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation, conduct quality client due diligence factoring Anti Money Laundering/Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and sanctions risks, liaise with business units and vigilance and control team to ensure quality of KYC forms and documents
• Conduct risk assessments on reviewed clients, issue advisory/take decisions on new-to-Bank account opening requests, make decisions on the risk assessment (increased, neutral, un-acceptable risks) of existing relationships to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements
• Review system generated alerts against customer data, investigate for potential money laundering/terrorist financing/sanctions risks, collect documentary proof, build/maintain case files for transactions and customers deemed suspicious, update relevant Management Information System (MIS) to ensure accurate tracking and record keeping, mitigate sanctions risks by taking decisions on payment filtering system, update internal watch-lists, identify tainted/blacklisted names and ensure required actions are taken in order to fulfil regulatory requirements and avoid penalties
• Draft and report on Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO)/Deputy MLRO approved Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs), action and submit responses to CBUAE on STRs, assist with addressing queries from corresponding Banks relating to money laundering and sanctions matters, carry out freezing of funds and blocking of accounts, respond to and raise Requests for Information (RFIs) from other Banks on anti-money laundering and sanctions in order to fulfil regulatory requirements and avoid penalties
• Determine exit strategy for flagged customers, close accounts, report to CBUAE and update MIS to ensure effective closure of accounts and to mitigate anti money laundering, KYC and sanctions risks in the organisation
• Set and review outcomes for parameter changes in the client on-boarding, AML and sanctions systems, develop comprehensive user requirements and test cases, conduct testing for automated solutions, assist in identifying potential weaknesses in processes and systems and manage necessary fixes to ensure system is working effectively