Shifting market landscapes have called for a stronger need for KYC analysts
Risk and compliance personnel, particularly those that specialise in financial crime compliance, are still in short supply in the financial services industry. Securing a qualified staff of compliance specialists, forensic investigators, and legal professionals has never been more crucial in a globally connected, complicated, and highly regulated financial system that is navigating the increasing wave of FinTech and cryptocurrencies.
While there has always been a great need for this type of skill, it has gotten even more competitive in today’s job environment. So, what skills will the financial crime fighters of the future need to best prepare for future threats and financial crime attacks?
Key skills for future threats
Looking ahead, the financial crime fighter of the future will be considerably different from today, with a broader set of talents mastering the disciplines of anti-money laundering, fraud, and cyber defense.
Anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and corruption, fraud, sanctions, and sometimes cybersecurity duties exist in most FCC entities. While each of these capabilities necessitates a distinct set of technical skills, these groups are linked by a set of common activities: writing policies and procedures, interpreting laws or regulations, identifying product and service risks, conducting investigations, and interacting with regulators. The skills required to carry out these tasks are transferable across FCC capabilities, especially when supplemented with upskilling and appropriate team configurations to close the technical skills gap.
New landscapes created as a result in increased financial crime
Banks will create “effective” compliance teams that generate “very helpful” and “relevant” intelligence for investigators in “priority areas” that are always altering.
These more focused programmes would include both broad sources of illegal money, such as corruption and cyber-enabled fraud, as well as direct reactions to what foreign threat actor organisations are doing on the ground — both in the physical and virtual worlds.
These are just a few of the updated goals set forth by the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in its formal list of national anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) priorities released last year.
Why the future of financial crime fighting will rely on the contingent workforce
Firms should be quick to adopt new hiring strategies that embrace the shifting personnel picture in a landscape with greater financial crime, increased regulatory demand, and additional BAU work following delay periods during the pandemic.
With new trends in hiring and retaining employees, more companies are turning to the contingency model to help them deliver on crucial projects, deal with surges in work, and get back to business as usual. It addresses the significant difficulty of staffing in a timely and cost-effective manner without the need for lengthy interviews or onboarding.
The recruitment procedure is slow in a fast-paced market. Recruiting good, competent people can take months, which is why there is such a high demand for skilled compliance contingent professionals in 2022, and this is expected to rise in 2023.
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