Hi,

I would like to get an opinion of the veteran here. I'm a diploma holder and I've been an insurance agent for about 4 years thinking of going into compliance. I'm also thinking of getting an ICA certification in AML. Do you think a ICA certification would help?

Thank you

You can try applying for sales compliance job, maybe in the insurance company you are working in. After you start a compliance role, you can move to other aspects of it, and other financial institutions.

Thanks but do you think by getting a ICA certification in AML, KYC CDD helps too?

I would suggest get a sales compliance job first and assess if you enjoy the work. Too many people try to join into Compliance and AML because there is a recent demand due to regulatory sanctions and they perceive the pay is good.

The pay can be good, but only the top 5% earns really good money (i.e. more than $300K/annum). Pay is always good if you are top 5% for any industry, and this is not specific to Compliance or AML. Compliance / AML is not everyone's cup of tea. If you really want to grow in this area, it takes a very specific personality. Otherwise, you may end up hating the job and earning average pay (i.e. $5K - 10K).

I just want to share, what life as an AML officer like.

We are all aware that MAS setup a special AML team following 1MDB. They are essentially going around to inspect banks, and financial institutions. Most of the bigger banks have a lot of remediation exercises, from AML, CDD, KYC, investigation, etc. This means that there are a lot of long hours to clean up existing mess that were grandfathered. Small banks are merging or sold to bigger organizations. If you are doing Compliance or AML in a smaller bank, you will likely struggle working after the merger because the work style, environment and pace are significantly different. Bonus for Compliance or AML are also never significant.

The attrition is high everywhere, because there is little work/life balance. There are a lot of movement because most of the bigger banks have their remediation exercises to clean up, and each bank are willing to pay more money, to get the bodies in to clean everything up. Once the remediation is over, you will see a lot of people being let go. This is also the reason why most banks are offering contract jobs instead of permanent roles. If you are outstanding, they will keep you to work on BAU work. If you are average performer (and you are expensive, especially if you have been moving around a few banks to get high pay), you will probably be one of those who are cut. These excludes juniors jobs that will eventually be outsourced to lower cost locations like Malaysia, India, Philippines, after the remediation are completed. Junior jobs are defined as roles that cost between $3K to $10K. In reality, most of these roles can be replaced in lower cost location. Senior management will often ask, why should they pay $5K to hire a AM or Manager, when RM$15K can get them a VP in KL, who can probably do a better job. Otherwise, they can always hire 3 AM or Managers for RM$15K, and 3 persons in Malaysia will definitely do more work than 1 person in Singapore.

This is a typical cycle of changes, so you should consider carefully, before jumping into the bandwagon.

KYC/AML can never be outsourced. My team is bumping up for higher business activity in the region and the headcount will be here to stay for ongoing surveillance. My team has on average 5 months bonus with 6-15% increment. how bout that for you?

It is always nice to be junior and optimistic.

Hi, fresh grad here. Have been looking to land a job before I graduated but to no avail. As the window for companies hiring is over, I would think that my best bet now would be to find a contract role. Would like to get some insight on 2 things, mainly recruiters and compliance as a career.

What are the main types of contract positions available at recruitment agencies for fresh grads, and is experience absolutely necessary for entry level positions? Also, which recruiters would you guys recommend? RE? Randstad?

There seems to be some conflicting opinions on this thread about the future of compliance related roles - some have said it's a matter of time before it's outsourced while some say that there is demand and that the market is hot right now. As a fresh grad, I'm looking for a career with Long term prospects rather than starting pay.

Thanks in advance.

Hello, would like to know if KYC a good place to start, and how's the progression for people starting out in KYC?
From what I see the pay is about 2.6-2.8k for entry level, how much does this increase by in say, 2 years in the current market?
From what I understand about KYC, its a fairly operational role, some say its mundane. Therefore what types of roles can people in KYC eventually move into that can possibly command a higher salary?

Compliance and AML are still good for another 5 years or so. There will still be demand but most banks prefer to hire experienced individuals. If contracting is the way to go for you to gain more experience, then you can try that option.

At this time and age, Compliance and AML are meant for people who constantly wants to strive for a difference and be ambitious. In fact, the whole working environment has evolved and changed. MAS is currently looking outside of Singapore, to digitize surveillance work. Basic typology will no longer be effective in 5 years time as crooks are getting smarter. Data analysis will be the new trend to identify gaps within the bank. This is also the only reason why banks will continue to hire Compliance and AML expertise in Singapore rather than outsourcing work to lower cost locations. If you wants a stable job and is resistant to changes, Compliance and AML will not be suitable. With the world evolving and becoming more digitized, all industry must evolved to catch up. This is the same reason why you are not using iphone 1 anymore.

There are talks that in 10 years time, brick and mortar banks will cease to exist. Everyone will do their banking needs online and the whole banking environment will change.