Due to recent growth within the business we are currently recruiting for a new position, Senior Compliance Officer. This vital role will be based from our London office, the right candidate will have the following responsibilities and duties:

Reports to: Compliance Director

Location: London

Hours: 8:30am  to 5pm

Salary: Dependent on experience

Experience: Minimum of 2 years experience

Holidays:  25 days

Job Summary:

A unique, specialist, Lloyd’s wholesale and retail broker is looking to recruit a Compliance Officer to join their successful team based in London.

The Senior Compliance Officer is responsible for supporting the Compliance Director in ensuring Direct Insurance Group complies with all relevant regulatory principals and requirements. Including, monitoring all aspects of the firm’s regulatory obligations, reporting to the Compliance Director on the status of compliance within the firm, non-compliance or notifiable breaches. Ensuring all employees are aware of their compliance obligations and providing all compliance training.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Keeping up-to-date with regulatory developments
• Supporting the Compliance Director in advising senior management in a timely manner about:

• FCA related issues and other regulatory issues
• Any changes to the FCA regulations

• Co-ordinating and producing the firm’s Annual compliance plan for approval by the Compliance Director and submission to senior management
• Co-ordinating and producing the firm’s Annual compliance review for approval by the Compliance Director and submission to senior management
• Supporting the Compliance Director is ensuring that the firm responds appropriately to requests for information from the FCA
• Supporting the Compliance Director in ensuring that the firm makes all appropriate notifications to the FCA and that such notifications are made in an accurate and timely manner, including:

• Retail Mediation Activities Return (RMAR)
• Complaints Return
• Changes to Standing Data
• Appointed Representatives annual report
• Any changes in Approved Persons, controllers or close links
• Material breaches

• Supporting the Compliance Director in ensuring that the firm’s activities comply at all times with;

• Its own internal procedures
• FCA requirements
• Reviewing on an on-going basis the firm’s reporting lines to ensure any changes in personnel are reflected in the firm’s documentation and communicated to all staff

Approved Persons:

• Ensuring that all relevant appointees are registered as Approved Persons by the FCA before commencing duties
• Notifying the FCA of any Approved Persons performing a new controlled function, ceasing to perform a controlled function or a change in personal details
• Ensuring that the fit and properness of all Approved Persons and advisers is reviewed on at least an annual basis
• Formally reviewing job descriptions/key tasks for all Approved Persons on at least an annual basis
• Ensuring that all Approved Persons are given access to the FCA’s Statements of Principle and Code of Practice

Compliance monitoring:

• Ensuring that the Board’s risk based approach to compliance monitoring is implemented across the business and its ARs
• Ensuring that the performance of the firm’s advisers and the advisers of any ARs is appropriately reviewed in accordance with the firm’s training and competence plan and that any issues identified are recorded
• Ensuring that the findings relating to the performance of advisers are recorded as part of the firm’s management information and that this is reacted to by senior management, where necessary and as appropriate
• Ensuring that up-to-date, relevant management information (including MI relating to treating customers fairly) is reviewed by appropriate individuals on a regular basis and is acted upon as appropriate as well as ensuring that the firm retains appropriate MI to support external reporting requirements

Systems and controls:

• Supporting the Compliance Director and/or Finance Director as applicable in ensuring that appropriate internal reports are prepared and records filed in a timely manner in relation to:

• Client money calculations and reconciliations
• Capital resources
• PII renewal
• The firm’s Report and Accounts

• Reviewing any outsourced activities on an on-going basis to ensure that these are undertaken adequately and meet the firm’s needs
• Supporting the Compliance Director to ensure that the firm considers conduct risk as part of its decision making and business processes
• Ensuring that the firm has a conduct risk policy
• Ensuring that the firm has a conflicts of interest policy, that the business is monitored to identify possible conflicts, that these are recorded and addressed in line with the firm’s policy
• Ensuring that internal controls, monitoring and reporting processes used to identify and prevent financial crime are regularly reviewed, with prompt escalation and action when appropriate.
• Ensuring that the firm’s business continuity arrangements are regularly reviewed and tested, as appropriate, to ensure these are capable of being implemented and that all management and third parties are aware of their roles and responsibilities
• Supporting the Compliance Director to ensure that the business has a culture of treating customers fairly, that it operates in line with the six outcomes and that adequate management information is available to measure how the outcomes are being met
• Ensuring that adequate records are kept throughout the organisation to demonstrate compliance with FCA requirements and to facilitate regulatory reporting 

Selling practices:

• Ensuring that all staff are aware of, and comply with, the firm’s own procedures and all relevant FCA requirements in relation to selling practices
• Ensuring that the sales process is supervised and monitored as per the firm’s training and competence plan
• Supporting the Compliance Director in liaising with product providers on matters which affect compliance, in particular documentation issues

Complaints handling:

• Ensuring that all staff are aware of, and comply with, the firm’s complaints handling procedures

Stationery, financial promotions, websites and Terms of Business: 

• Ensuring that any stationery, financial promotions (including websites) and Terms of Business are approved for compliance with FCA requirements
• Undertaking formal reviews of the firm’s stationery and financial promotions (including websites) to check that the information remains valid and compliant
• Undertaking formal reviews of the firm’s Terms of Business, to ensure that the information remains valid and compliant and adequately reflects the firm’s arrangements
• Ensuring that all relevant records are maintained (eg a register, copies of draft and published items, etc)

Training and Competence:

• Ensuring that the firm has an adequate training and competence plan and that the plan is audited on a regular basis to ensure it remains fit for purpose and appropriately implemented
• Supporting the Compliance Director in ensuring that recruitment procedures comply with the firm’s training and competence plan
• In line with the firm’s training and competence plan:

• Ensuring that all new advisers are appropriately trained and supervised and are provided with a copy of the relevant internal procedures
• Ensuring that competency standards are met before an adviser is signed off
• Ensuring that all relevant individuals are subject to on-going supervision, assessment and continuing professional development 

Appointed Representatives (ARs):

• Ensuring the firm’s ARs are adequately monitored for compliance with all relevant FCA requirements

Customer money:

• Supporting the Compliance Director and the Finance Director with monitoring client money requirements and applying appropriate checks to ensure that:

• Transactions involving client money are processed in accordance with the CASS requirements Client bank accounts are set up and operated in accordance with the CASS requirements
• Compliant risk transfer arrangements exist with insurers, where appropriate, and that the terms of such agreements are followed with regard to the handling of money

Education and Qualifications:

At least 5 A-C Grade GCSE’s including English, Maths and ICT.

Desirable:  Insurance qualifications e.g. CII

Knowledge and Experience: 

The Compliance Officer is required to have detailed knowledge of the FCA’s rules and the firms business as well as the ability to support and influence colleagues in relation to their direct compliance responsibilities. 

Aptitude:

Outcome focused, self-motivated, enthusiastic

Team worker with the ability to work on own initiative

Professional approach to relationships

Additional Information:
The job entails a standard 5 days a week employment.

So if you’d like to work for an award winning company that offers training to all staff, personal development and real opportunity for growth then please send your CV to Kerry Johnson – kerry.johnson@direct-ins.co.uk or our recruitment inbox at –  recruitment@direct-ins.co.uk.

We look forward to hearing from you.