Compliance pay up for top talent

If you want to make a mint in the world of compliance, now may be the time to head to a US bank or hedge fund.

Andrew Chancellor, managing director of the finance and professional services arm of Robert Walters, says heads of compliance working in the City of London can earn up to 400,000. Ian Morris, a compliance recruiter at IMS Selection, says vice presidents with over five years' experience at a large US bank can expect around 100,000.

But New York is where you'll find the kings of compliance pay. Mary O'Gorman at search firm Snelling Search says hedge funds will pay $1m for a top chief compliance officer. "There is a shortage of talent to meet demand," she says. "That, combined with the extraordinarily high hiring standards generally in the hedge arena has created much higher compensation for the so-called 'best of breed.'"

In continental Europe pay is, as ever, less impressive. Giorgio Veronelli, executive manager at Michael Page in Milan. puts pay for an Italian compliance specialist with five years' experience in the region of €65,000 (44,000). Anke Braun at specialist compliance recruiter MRL Financial says pay is similar in Frankfurt: "The rule of thumb is that if you take a UK salary in pounds, continental banks pay the same in euros."