AML & Financial Crime Assistant Vice President

Who we are

United by a sense of purpose towards our customers – to be a trusted partner for the long-term – and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.

Role Summary

The Rules and List Management Utility (RLMU) is a newly established team within OPPD-BSM, created to provide a sustainable and independent business-as-usual (BAU) capability for proactively managing the tuning of all Monitoring and Screening applications. Its mission is to ensure these processes remain both effective and efficient in detecting potential risks.

This role sits within a Fraud Analytics function in the First Line of Defence (1LoD), focused on optimising the performance of our Fraud Screening system. Although based in 1LoD, the role requires regular collaboration with colleagues across departments and branches.

As a Data Analyst, you will play a key role in enhancing governance and delivering insights into the rule sets used within the Actimize platform. You’ll be responsible for recommending data-driven changes, implementing new rules, and tuning the system to improve both its efficiency and effectiveness.

Business Area

The EMEA Division of SMBC includes SMBC Bank International plc, SMBC Bank EU AG and SMBC Nikko Capital Markets Limited (and other subsidiaries and affiliates) and provides Commercial and Investment Banking services to a wide client base across Europe, Middle East and Africa. With its headquarters in London, it has offices and branch locations in 17 countries and a headcount of > 3,000 staff. EMEA Operations comprises circa 800 staff, located in 7 countries across the region.

The establishment of a 1LoD Financial Crime capability is a critical objective of SMBC EMEA to ensure that it retains a robust risk and control framework. Operations Planning Department (OPPD) works as part of the wider EMEA Operations:

• OPPD (Operations Planning Department): provision of Data Management, Change Management, Third Party Management, Business Service Management and Corporate Real Estate & Services to all departments in EMEA.
• OAD/ODED (Operations & Administration Department / Operations Department Europe Division): middle office, transaction processing and customer servicing support for all business departments in EMEA. This includes Financial Crime Middle Office, Derivative Operations, Securities Operations, Treasury Operations, Loan Administration, Trade Finance Operations, Trade & Transaction Reporting and Payments. 

The EMEA FCM and CLM BSM team is in the process of being established with a number of FTE already recruited and further roles to be filled throughout 2025.  

Position Description

We're looing for someone with a foundational understanding of fraud analytics and experience in rule tuning, ideadlly within platforms such as Actimize. Prior exposure to adjusting or optimising detection rules to improve system performance is highly valued. 

The successful candidate will:

• Conduct Pre-emptive Data analysis to prevent potential production issues, highlight emerging threats / patterns of behaviour and proactivity target this, to help prevent attempted criminal behaviour.
• Liaise with technology teams to stay current on Actimize Fraud enhancements/changes.
• Assist and participate in projects and new initiatives within the Customer Fraud Screening domain.
• To increase operational efficiency and effectiveness by using financial crime data analytics to tune the systems to reduce false positive and helping bring forward more worthwhile alerts for investigation.
• Perform rule threshold reviews, tuning and data analysis - including data trend analysis, rule design, rule development, testing, volume analysis, implementation, presentations, and documentation.
• Assist in the creation of MI for senior stakeholders to show system performance.
• Performing data extraction, storage, manipulation, processing, and analysis and managing multiple analytical deliveries concurrently.
• Keeping up to date with the latest technical developments within analytics and making sure that changes to industry best practices are adopted.
• Conducting analysis including data gathering and requirements specification in collaboration with business stakeholders.
• Responsible for rule and list management ensuring regular review of rules being utilised for effectiveness and relevance.

Collaborate with senior stakeholders to understand their needs to enhance existing applications and define improvements to gain both operational efficiencies as well as architectural and infrastructure improvements.

Education & Qualifications

• Demonstrated knowledge of Fraud financial crime typologies, and particularly Fraud Screening Systems, preferably, Actimize Fraud.
• A good understanding of core Bank products such as BACs, SEPA and SWIFT payments.
• Experience with analytical or database querying software such as SQL and Python.
• Experience with data visualisation tools such as Tableau and PowerBI.
• The ability to identify wider business impacts or opportunities across key outputs and processes.
• Ability to work unaided on projects and manage their own time to meet deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communicator, able to articulate and prepare detailed rationale.

Ability to collaborate with all levels of personnel with differing expertise and backgrounds as part of project workstreams.

Competencies

What we offer

For all the expertise and experience you bring to help us make a difference, it’s only sustainable if we support you to build your career and be your best self so we offer competitive company benefits, centred around promoting positive well-bring and work-life balance. We also believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, where all team members perspectives and contributions are valued. Initiatives in place which promote a diverse and inclusive culture and healthy work life balance include hybrid working, Sport & Social Clubs and Diversity and Inclusion networks.

As an employee of SMBC you have access to a host of both useful and exciting benefit offerings. See below some of the benefits on offer to you:

• Hybrid and flexible working 
• Competitive paid leave days
• Benefits to support your physical wellbeing, including private medical insurance and life and invalidity insurance 
• Various policies to support your mental wellbeing, including a robust behavioural health network with counselling and coaching services  
• Access a wide range of learning and development opportunities and career progression opportunities 
• Ambitious remuneration package

So, if you like a challenge and want to continuously grow and develop in a role where you will be supported along the way by a dynamic and diverse team, apply today!!