An analysis of a compliance officer job description shows that the officer is charged with ensuring that the organization's plans and actions are consistent with appropriate regulations as well as internal procedures. Most compliance positions are found in financial services institutions due to the heavy regulation and complex nature of modern day finance. It is the compliance officer's job to see to it that there is no conflict of interest between certain jobs and departments. The corporate compliance job description of the officer requires that he or she understands current organizational, financial, taxation, and legal framework that the institution must operate within. The compliance officer salary is competitive when compared to other similar roles in the job market.
What is the compliance officer salary?
The compensation for a corporate compliance officer will vary depending on industry and location. On average, a compliance officer salary in the US stands at $23.50 per hour or $48,890 per annum. Actual pay will also be a factor of one's experience and professional qualification.
Are the job prospects positive for compliance positions?
As at 2008, there were over 260,000 compliance officers working in various focuses. The compliance officer must work closely with internal auditors and risk managers so that any action that may pose a threat to the business and its clients is nipped in the bud. The growth outlook for compliance positions is positive.
What are the main aspects of a compliance officer job description?
The corporate compliance job description involves the following:
Documentation - Taking the lead in ensuring there are written procedures, standards of conduct and policies around every process in the institution. Note that the procedures must also have an exception handling section that documents the approval path to be followed for the rare instances where a process has to be affected outside the laid down procedure.
Compliance forum - Establishing and chairing a compliance committee that will serve as a valuable communication link to ensure compliance standards are enforced and that non-compliance is addressed appropriately up to and including disciplinary measures.
Improve compliance awareness - The compliance officer's role can be made that much easier if all member's of staff understand the importance of compliance, their stake in a regulatory-compliant firm and their personal responsibility to ensure all processes are done within the institution's compliance framework. Awareness can be achieved through workshops, compliance quizzes, rewards for staff that demonstrate exceptional compliance consciousness and the establishment of hotlines for confidential reporting of non-compliance incidents.
Combating fraud - The corporate compliance job description will have a clause on fraud, waste monitoring and prevention also includes reducing the probability of the organization being vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse.
Reporting - The compliance officer must regularly report to management and regulators on the institution's current state of compliance. Reports to management would comprise not only compliance with regulatory requirements but also with internal policy and procedure. The officer must also respond to regulators and coordinate any such response when done by another member of staff.
What is the key personal trait highlighted in compliance officer job description?
A corporate compliance job description emphasizes the need for a high level of reliability. Compliance issues can be so serious as to cause an institution to lose its business license. Management must rest confident that they have a person they can bank on in the compliance officer's position. Some institution's have the compliance officer reporting directly to the board in a similar fashion to the internal audit function. That way, the board can be well aware of the compliance risks that face the organization and determine how material any such threats are as well as ways to mitigate such threats.
Additional Information
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