Playing by the rules needs a strong referee
COMPLIANCE jobs are the new growth sector in banking, but it’s not easy money. In March, a Thomson Reuters survey found over a third of respondents spent a day every week just keeping up to speed with the latest alterations to the rulebook.
The survey saw just one in ten compliance officers expecting a budget increase, but there could be some more money around for them now.
The week began with Jerry del Missier connecting a former global head of compliance at Barclays with the Libor scandal. Then yesterday HSBC’s chief compliance officer David Bagley resigned in front of the US Senate after its damning report on the bank.
But it’s not so much money that seems to be at issue. At HSBC, its decentralised structure left group compliance an advisory rump, with responsibility but not much power. As Bagley has found, there’s little job security in such a role.
Marc Sidwell is City A.M.’s managing editor