Is this salary progression same for KYC and AML related roles? Or can you earn more in say, AML?

Opinions on AML between corporate banking and private banking? Prospects etc.

Both of you should read the criteria that post on "what managers are looking for entry AML/KYC level positions" (page 89). The criteria are true and valid. If you are not even in KYC/AML yet, be humble and have positive attitude. If you are a strong performer, it doesn't matter whether you join corporate banking/private banking, or KYC/AML. You need to learn the basic, build your foundation, and if you are outstanding, people will want you. Your team lead will want to bring you over to whichever business they moved to. With a strong foundation, you can move from corporate to private banking (and vice versa), and you can move from KYC to AML (vice versa).

Think of it like going to a secondary school or JC. Just because you made it to ACS or RI, it doesn't mean that you will be outstanding or a top student. You will still be forced-rank in school, based on your results and performances. It is the same in working environment as well. Whether you join investment bank, be a management associate, or what not, it still depends on how you perform after you get the first feet in. There are people who don't graduate from local university, or didn't manage to join a prestigious bank MA program, but they still managed to excel in their career, simply because they are willing to learn and has a positive attitude. There are many polytechnic students who did significant better than graduates.

Built your foundation first. If you have bad attitude, even if you are a scholar, nobody will touch you in AML or Compliance.

The general rule I will advise is, to assess how big is the team that you will be joining. If you are joining a huge team, there is a good chance that you will have a mixed of average performers versus top performers. Top performers will likely be obvious and promotion can be faster, if you have positive attitude. If you are joining a smaller team, it is harder to assess if you are outstanding or not.

Business analyst can range from running data (management information) for reports, to managing business related projects (usually remediation projects). If your role is the formal, progression will be much slower. If you are running remediation projects, there will be more opportunity for you to showcase your ability (if you are good).

What exactly does AML Business Advisory do? Is it better in prospect compared to KYC, transaction surveillance?

First off, do you know the scope that you will be covering as a BA? Without knowing that, its hard for anyone here to give you specific pointers. Im sure you are not just looking for generic advices.

Would 1 year of trade operations exp in a bank be considered relevant exp when making a switch to an AML/KYC role?

Regarding the trajectory (pay-wise) in a compliance related role VS one in ops is it true that compliance fares way better? I have only referred to salary guides and it seems that is the case. Not sure how accurate the guides are.

The potential for a high trajectory pay in compliance is definitely there, but it doesnt mean everyone will get on it. It still boils down to your individual performance.

Im definitely willing to work for it, but im just wondering if the discrepancies or difference salary wise will be significant between compliance and ops.

I have a colleague who started at the same time with me 10 years ago, I'm in compliance,he is in ops. 10 years later, i'm earning more than twice his pay. Not saying that Ops pays badly, but the potential for compliance is definitely there.

That being said, that was 10 years ago when supply for compliance officers was quite limited, so we could negotiate bigger salary increases whenever we jumped. That may not be the case now. Past performance is not indicative of future performance :P