Originally Posted by Unregistered

Realistically, what are the chances of everyone becoming a regional head? In big banks, there are a few hundreds AML / Compliance practitioners and only 1 regional head. Unless you are superstar, which in reality, most people are not, you should have a more realistic dream.

Sanctions is not the highest paid. Pay goes with experiences, along with how good you are, to a certain extent. Additionally, Sanctions is a very niche coverage. To reach the top, you have very very limited roles that you can take. In a bigger banks, you might have a small team of people focusing on Sanctions, in Singapore. There are limited growth for these group of people as well, so likely, they will stay in their job for a long while.

Additionally, its not necessary adviser - regional adviser - regional head. There are many routes and it depends on the size of the FIs. You can move from regional adviser (small bank) to a country advisory (big bank) or country head (med-sized bank). If you are fixated with one route, your career will be stuck very quickly.