Seeking Advice.
 

Hi All,

I been doing KYC over 3 years but not getting any progression and drawing only 3k pay.
Everyday OT gao gao work until 8PM saturday come back half day work until no life.

Hitting a Wall in a long hour lousy job with no progression sian to the max.

Anyone have any kind advice for me?

Thank you.

What is your qualification, perm or contract?

What is your daily role about?

This is not me. You can ignore these statements.

I am definitely not a high flyer. I have a degree in Banking & Finance from an Aussie uni but no honors or masters, not a dean lister etc. No professional qualifications yet as well, but am in the midst of studying for CAMS.

To be honest, it really goes down to finding the right time and opportunity to jump, and jump often. If I have to point out my strongest skillset, I have to say it's my interviewing skills more than anything technical or work related.

Being the point of contact in the Compliance team for the Due Diligence team as well as Business, on all issues related to KYC and AML.

They usually present complex situations, and my job is to analyst, dissect and ask the right questions, pointing them in the right direction and prescribing a risk based approach to take for the situation.

In a nutshell, the bulk of what my team does.

The bulk of my ex colleagues from the KYC domain are still within the KYC space, in one form or another. Most of them have risen up to senior analyst or assoc roles, though we don't really talk about those kinda stuff when we meet up. Sensitive.

Differs from bank to bank. Some banks have dedicated client management teams that deal exclusively with the acquisition of documentation (KYC, legal, credit etc.) from the client. Some banks put the responsibility on the KYC operational team to get these documents from the client.

I have never heard of Compliance personnel being tasked for such matters. Pretty sure it's a clash in mandate. Compliance is strictly internal and not supposed to be client facing in any form.

Agree..technical skills can be trained.

Thanks for sharing.

Why is there a clash in mandate for compliance?

Most of them are still contract staff as analysts. Mostly are doing remediation for KYC or name screening, which actually is very easily outsourced to hubs in cheaper regions such as India or Malaysia. I can think of at least 5 ex colleagues who are either still contract staffs after 3 years or they have just taken a perm job in a non compliance related role. It can get very discouraging when you work for 3 years and still only a contract staff.

This is beceause Compliance is deemed to be an independent function that can provide independent advise.

This is not me. You can ignore these comments.

Jump ship? Perhaps move into other related space such as aml. Take a slight pay cut if need be. See as you deemed fit.

thanks for advice.
that's what i am thinking too.
going to take CAMS exam at the end of the month.
if need be i willing to take pay or contract role to go into aml.
after all my pay miserable 3k only.
can 2.5k aml contract role i also happy liao.

715
 

aml is considered a different space from compliance?

I am another poster. I would advise you against going to contract. You have already had 3 yrs experience. Are all these contracts? Make wiser choices. Unless you have a diploma. 3 yrs is enough for you to get a promotion already.

i'm not the poster with 3 years exp haha. however i'm still new to compliance, so.. trying to get a better grasp of compliance's structure(s). seems like it varies bank to bank though

I am a degree holder from uol.
I am in a perm position.
No promotion cos I am just a kyc saikang warrior doing kyc for rm.
Boss also don't xing shang me enough despite all my hard work.

Kyc imho is a sunset industry.

I see..how much did you start with?

UOL Grad
My 3 years of KYC career as follows:

6 Months Contract SG Bank $1900

3 Months Contract EU Bank $2500

3 Months Contract JP Bank $2600
3 Months Contract Same JP Bank Another Department $2600
3 Months Contract Same JP Bank Another Department $2600

Converted to Perm in same JP Bank $3000
1 Year as Perm in same JP Bank $3100
Currently 1 year 9 Months as Perm in Current Position.

Total Banking Experience in KYC 3 Years 3 Months.
Total Period as a contract 1 Years 6 Months.
Total Period as a perm 1 Year 9 Months.
Total Period in current bank including contract days 2 Years 6 Months.

Currently drawing $3100 for doing KYC for RM full time.

Ok thanks for this information. The main thing is you accepted a lousy package when you Ist started. You should not have accepted a 1900 offer which is not for grads. You could have gotten a perm role. Dont ever go into contract again. And you hop too much at the initial stage and without little experience ( 3 month contracts in a yr) will not do you good. My advice to you is go for a proper perm role in a good company and build on your skills. I was from SIM as well started with retail banking. After 2.5 yrs I went to KYC. So total I have been working for 4.5 yrs. Greatest regret was when I got into 9 mths KYC contract after my retail banking role. After than I immediately went to a perm role. Contract just dont get the deal. Some go for contract for huge base increment (this is a trap). Ultimately it can play against you. As a perm you are a proper headcount to the company. Contracts are not.

Unfortunately, things didn't work that way for me.
I hop 5x contract for 1.5 years spamming on the side line until i finally get converted to perm after contract in 3 different dept in same JP Bank clearing KYC backlogs.

Now i am stuck in a kyc role with no progression helping rm to clear their kyc saikang.

One off topic qn, any one noe if increment and bonus r usually received in the same mth? Or do more banks give bonus perhaps in Dec den increment in some other mth (not same mth give one)? Thx guys

Compliance Manager
Trafigura
://.linkedin.com/jobs/view/190450169

how old are you?

If I had to venture an educated guess, you are probably in B**U, am I right?

This bank is well known for lowballing employees. It is high time that you look out for other opportunities.

BTMU aka MUFJ?

MUFJ monthly salary is lower than others, but they pay relatively stable bonus of 6-8 months which is higher than other banks, so the total package is about the same.

AML is regarded as a cost function that banks are looking to isolate and monitor (a.k.a reduce head count locally, outsource to cheaper countries)

You'll be taking a big risk giving up your 3k perm job for a 2.5k contract AML job, which in another 2.5 to 3 years there is a high chance you'll still be a contract staff earnig 3k to 3.3k?

This means that for your 5.5 to 6 years of experience you will be earning 3k+ only. This is an overrated industry that many naive fresh grads think is attractive. May seriously want to reconsider this industry altogether.

Oh no I thought AML is safe... Sigh headache

There is a lot of imprecise information floating around.

Yes, KYC/Due Diligence is not the iron ricebowl that many think it is. A large proportion of the work can be outsourced to lower cost countries (Philippines, India in particular), and only some material work has to remain in Singapore due to MAS regulations.

However, Compliance on the other hand can never be outsourced. MAS will never allow a regulated institution to port their Compliance function overseas. As far as I know, most AML teams reside within Compliance, unless it's the exceptional few teams which label themselves AML but is in fact doing KYC or other more operational work.

As long as you are within Compliance, your job is safe.

Ello, which are safe?

- advisory sure safe
- Kyc unsafe
- trans monitoring?
- regulatory?
- FCC safe oso?

Thx bro

Sorry, I will neither confirm or deny this.
3x Jippun Banks Only.
Imho all Jippun Bank low ball their employees.
Jippun Companies are well known for long working hours, being sibei niao and promoting only their own people.

If AML get outsource,
ACAMS and ICA can go jiak sai liao.

All the typical teams under the FCC umbrella are safe, as far as outsourcing is concerned.
Go read the pages before this for my commentary on which teams are under the FCC bracket.

wah which bank is this? so no life! local, european, american, jeepun?

Hi guys, I am having problemm getting in a kyc/aml role job. Previously was from front office in financial services for around 2 years, keen to make a switchto middle office. Tried applying for contract jobs but still no avail.

Any suggestions?

Either your asking salary too high or you are not spamming agencies hard enough.

my asking is less then $3k, is it reasonable? i have tried all jobs portal like jobsdb, job street , jobs bank etc , but still not getting anything. what's the chance of moving from front office to middle office? seems like even for contract they require candidates to have experience which is i'm currently lacking.

too high liao.
even perm kyc staff might not even get 2.5k a month.
you lower until 2k try again bah.

kyc is the lowest paid job in compliance.