Compliance Officer
Faysal Bank Limited, Head Office Karachi
Total years of experience :11 years, 11 Months
Accomplishments:
• Instrumental in designing, counseling and implementing bank compliance procedures and policies.
• Established annual monitoring plan for departmental and branch reviews.
• Successfully promoted compliance excellence, facilitated training programs to increase understanding of regulatory requirements, compliance policies and ethical conduct within business lines and across the bank.
• Dexterously screened policies, standard operating procedures and related frameworks.
• Entrusted to handle a special temporary project: Led Regulatory Team which deals with Central bank affairs including bank inspection and other matters.
- Subsequent to Memo received from Regulator, assigning tasks to concern business units/ departments, determining timelines for submission of information required by Central Bank.
- Logging all complaints received from Banking Mohtasib Pakistan and circulation & closure assurance from concern unit (Complaint Management Unit).
- Compiling data/ information required to present Central Bank Auditors as well as Board & Senior Mgmt. of the bank.
- Respond central bank letters / notices under which special instructions are given.
- Liaising with Regional Offices/Departments wherein penalty imposed on noncompliance with regulatory instructions
Key Responsibilities:
Advisory Excellence
• Serving as strategic Advisor on bank’s policies, procedures/processes, products/ third party products, terms and conditions, collaterals etc.
• Reviewing and approving control policies and processes in order to ensure regulatory compliance across all departments. Providing expert oversight for day-to-day approvals on notices, customer letters, marketing materials, SMS text, service level agreements and other matters to various business functions and branches.
• Subject matter expertise to the business functions and branches for advising on regulatory exception matters. Implementing and maintaining ongoing review program for compliance.
• Establishing action plans on SBP instructions, circulars, prudential regulations issued from time to time and following-up with the stakeholders for their timely implementations.
Monitoring Excellence
• Proffering real-time monitoring and correction of employee conduct and operations. Conducting quarterly assessment of branches through dashboard monitoring.
• Performing initial and periodic onsite due diligence reviews, documenting findings and highlighting queries and issues to concerns. Providing oversight by reviewing compliance checklists and due diligence questionnaires and exception reports and changes to policies and procedures.
• Providing value-added recommendations to improve the control environment. Conducting formal closing meetings with the business to agree potential issues and actions to resolve.
• Developing metrics to monitor performance of organization, compiling and issuing formal reports underlining key issues.
• Assisting the Head of Business Compliance Monitoring in maintaining risk assessments for the core business areas that form part of the monitoring program as well as ongoing maintenance of the central risk assessment framework.
Joined the organization as an Executive in Internal Audit Sales Department, moved on upward career trajectories, to merit promotion to the position of Senior Executive - Internal Audit Business Unit.
Key Responsibilities:
Auditing
• Supported audit team leaders in internal audit engagements. Planned and executed audit procedures on key internal controls. Proactive identification and prioritization of key risks areas to ensure adequate audit coverage.
• Performed risk-based audits, recommended best practices and effective controls in the reported audit findings.
Monitoring Leadership
• Developed innovative inward/outward communication and strategies/initiatives in order to effectively identify and manage enhanced risk management techniques.
• Accomplishing special projects and other tasks according to applicable corporate and regulatory policies and procedures and within scope, quality, time and cost constraints.
• Efficaciously identified issues/gaps associated with client needs and system controls. Proffered solution to bridge the gap.
• Reviewed bank & merchant complaints, conducted investigations with Business Unit, identified weakness in control and recommended actions.
• Facilitated implementation of new policy & procedures to enhance delivery of system requirements as per changing needs of clients which in-turn optimizes their business.
Chargeback & Payment Management
• Served as charge back expert, evaluated controls and SOPs to prevent project from Chargeback and proposed potential measures to prevent re-occurrence.
• Dexterously managed every element on chargeback management process from review and analysis through representment and reporting.
• Collaborated with Sales team to arrange reversal codes to resolve charge back issues with merchant complaints.
• Identified fraud parameters and process refund of payments that may lead to fraud & penalization on our merchant.
• Researched and investigated chargebacks to recommend/ enhance business processes associated with fraud and chargebacks
Key Responsibilities:
• Implemented anti money laundering procedures to ensure that all regulatory requirements are met and to protect the bank from losses.
• Assessed daily financial activity to detect and monitor suspicious transactions. Identified multiple significant cases, red flags and patterns associated with the laundering of illicit funds.
• Conducted enhanced due diligence research research/investigation, depending on the complexity of each alert/case. Maintained AML dashboards and managed development of on-demand risk reporting.
• Strove to obtain additional documentation/information required to satisfy CDD and EDD requirements. Conducted OFAC and World Check searches for clients based on the AML Risk Requirements
• Supervised AML clearance of accounts related with NGOs/NPOs/Charities.
• Liaised with Central Bank, Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) & Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) on all AML/CFT related queries /issues.
• Exhibited expertise in the areas of complex investigations and due diligence, provided next step recommendations to Unit Head and escalate issues as appropriate.
• Conducted enhanced customer due diligence, transaction activity reviews, and negative media searches and documented findings in accordance with approved policies and procedures as well as ensured compliance of UN sanctions/Government instructions regarding freezing of accounts of negative individuals /entities.
• Scanned Swifts using HotScan application for possible name matching with negative individual/entities.
Key Project to Credit:
• Reviewed all high risk accounts (PEPs, NGO/NPO/CHARITY) documents, identified gaps, conducted EDD and screened all the members/managing committee of organization through World Check in light of available sanction list (OFAC, BOE, EU).
• During implementation of HotScan BFA, suggested different percentages/ rescheduling of weightages to be assigned on available parameters so that quality alerts can be generated and risk of bypassing alerts can be minimized.