Guest comment: MiFID isn't the only thing multiplying compliance jobs
Michelle Myers, a consultant on Joslin Rowe's temporary compliance division, says there's more than MiFID behind the current compliance jobs boost.
Reading recent press, a casual observer could be led to believe that the compliance recruitment world starts and ends with MiFID. Certainly on Joslin Rowe's temporary desk, we have seen the same enormous influx of roles for temporary compliance professionals that others are commenting upon.
In fact, our own research suggests that over 1,200 MiFID contractors will be required before the November deadline. As a consequence, hourly rates are rising and contractors are being snapped up in scenes reminiscent of the Y2K rush. We're seeing people who last year would have been lucky to earn 350 per day, commanding upwards of 500.
Language skills at a premium
In particular, we're noticing a demand for compliance candidates with a business-fluent European language. Typically, the language holy grail reads: German in first place, Italian second, and then in joint third place either French, Portuguese or Spanish.
Why is compliance fuelling language demand? MiFID aims to create a single market in financial services, which means companies have excessive amounts of paperwork to reclassify, remediate and update regarding business in the various jurisdictions. Fluency in the relevant European languages enables candidates to liaise where necessary with counterparts across the EU.
The roles that require languages are therefore varied and include anything from know your client (KYC) officers to anti-money laundering (AML) analysts, as well as pure MiFID roles. Those that do enter the job market are finding themselves with multiple offers in a matter of days and can often command between 10% and 25% more than in their previous role, depending on their exposure.
A MiFID project manager with fluent Italian and a background in project or change management or business analysis can, for example, expect to earn around 600 per day.
More than MiFID
However, it would be wrong to suggest that MiFID specialists are the only people on the compliance recruitment wish-list. Appetite is also strong for general compliance officers, KYC and AML professionals. And alongside MiFID, there is another huge recruitment hotspot that is demanding a great deal of attention - the frenetic world of monitoring.
With new regulatory legislation and the financial environment becoming more stringent, the need for staff covering all areas of compliance monitoring is growing. Candidates with monitoring exposure, from risk-based monitoring, exception-based monitoring, trade surveillance and trade-flow monitoring, to the monitoring of personal account (PA) dealing, will have no issues finding a desirable job in the current regulatory market.
As with MiFID, monitoring pay is rising fast. In the last few weeks alone I have witnessed one monitoring candidate increase his salary by a further 10 an hour, after an intense offer and counter-offer process between banks. In order to retain him, another candidate has been offered a more senior role and made permanent.
The baseline is that in the current market there seems to be a huge shortage of top-calibre candidates with the requisite compliance skills. Many banks/investment firms are seeking these individuals and are prepared to go to extremes both to hire them in and then ensure they stay on board. But with so many compliance jobs there for the taking, banks may need to do a lot more to keep hold of compliance staff in future.
