FCA regulated compliance

[whatnooow]

Hi all, this is a bit of a long shot ( and I have already put this on LinkedIn) but for those who work in compliance, would you mind sharing your career path from where you started to where you are now?

I'm a regulated broker but I don't feel it's the right fit for my personality. I'm great with people, but I hate the sales side of it. Anyway, I thought "how can I monetise my paranoia and sense of always being in trouble?" Compliance. Obviously.

If you have recruiters that you're happy to share the details of, that would also be brilliant.

I'm in Manchester if that helps.

Thank you!

Compliance person here - career path was through a contact center and then to complaints and then Compliance from there (many many years ago).

Since I started my career there are different types of compliance areas that have emerged - product governance, conduct risk, customer outcomes to name a few so lots of scope to get in to Compliance from the business these days.

Merje is a good agency who specialise in Risk and Compliance roles outside London, and I think have an office in Manchester so will know the market.

@Minnowmeow hello compliance person!

Than you for the tip, just followed their page and recruiters

Compliance is all I’ve done but a move from business across is possible. And it’s certainly helpful to have that knowledge of how and why the business does things a certain way.

if you like the firm you are at could you see if you can move sideways into some form of quality assurance role as a stepping stone? Or see if this comes up at similar firms.

As well as Merj mentioned above I’d also suggest Oliver James as a recruiter I see looking at roles out of London.

Overall I think it’s an underrated career area with lots of opportunities.

@KatzP thank you for the other recommendation. The firm I work for now is two people plus me, so no option of progression as we use an outside company for our compliance.

Can I ask, do either of you have legal backgrounds? I literally just have the qualifications needed for my current role so I'd definitely need to start at the beginning.

My path was from private practice to compliance via a stint at a regulator. I'm always really keen to recruit for my compliance team from the business side (sales in particular because the product knowledge is so good) so would suggest speaking to your chief compliance officer and see if they might be interested. I bet they would be.

Just saw your update. For recruiters I'd recommend Danos.

No not legal, and while it’s potentially helpful most of the teams I’ve managed through my career have not had many legally qualified people on them doing this type of role. People have had a variety of backgrounds - some no qualifications and like me worked up through companies, others have had business degrees and evening in between.

as a pp said, having business experience and then going into compliance is a good path as these days you need to be less about reciting rules and more about understanding rules and outcomes and applying them to strategy and business objectives.

No legal background and when I hire it’s not something I see as a plus. In fact for those at early stages of their career it puts me off as I’ve seen too many use it as a stop gap between getting their LPC and getting a training contract when they didn’t manage to straight out of law school

I was in Compliance for 9 years - I'm from an Arts background, no legal experience at all. Temped in the HR dept of an investment bank and when a mat leave cover role came up in their Compliance department, I was interviewed and got the role. A 6 month contract became a year and then I got a job at another bank when the lady came back.
I think it would help your chances though if you can do an Intro to Compliance type short course then it cements the regulatory stuff - it sounds like you already know the business side of things.
And I know this isn't sexy but they are always looking for KYC & Anti-Money-Laundering people so you could get an entry role in that?
As one of my bosses said, Compliance is one of the functions in banking where women can excel cos of our attention to detail and thoroughness.
Good luck!