Salary survey: Compliance experts needed in key sectors

Demand is strong for compliance experts in certain sectors including fixed income, equites and equity derivatives, according to the recruitment firm McGregor Boyall.

There is a noticeable shortage of staff in those areas with both sound product knowledge and compliance experience, said Lindsay Reid, associate director of the firm's compliance division.

Even so, job seekers had to be exceptionally skilled to command high salaries in the current economic climate. It was particularly hard at the moment to move from a monitoring role to a better paid front-office compliance job, a route traditionally favoured by many staff.

A salary survey by McGregor Boyall of City of London financial services firms shows compliance assistants with one or two years' experience earning between 30,000 and 45,000. Those with four to six years experience could command 45,000 to 70,000, the survey for July showed.

Reid said that in many sectors there was little demand for senior staff, but more interest in hiring at the very junior end, often for salaries of below 30,000 a year.

The introduction of a new regulatory regime a year ago by the Financial Services Authority had placed renewed emphasis on anti-money laundering. Market abuse roles were also more in the spotlight following financial scandals.

This had not necessarily translating into better paid jobs. But Reid said that next year he expected compliance training officers to be in a strong position in the job market, as the FSA increased its monitoring of the quality of training inside banks.

High quality training was invaluable, he said. As well as ensuring that staff did nothing irregular, it also allowed them to maximise profits by making efficient use of the regulations.