The raft of financial crime fighting roles in Scotland

As banks look to tighten up their anti-money laundering and other financial crime mechanisms a large number of roles are being created within the big institutions north of the border.

A combination of an increased focus on information security, as concerns about fraudsters targeting financial institutions mount, and a need to shore up AML practices (particularly in light of recent global upheaval) has led many banks in Scotland to recruit in this space.

In London, AML compliance roles can be fairly lucrative. Some one with 2-4 years experience can expect 48-75k, according the Robert Walters 2011 salary survey. But in Scotland, the average salary on offer is around 40k, suggests Scott Maxwell, principal consultant, accounting and financial services at Hudson in Edinburgh.

On a contract basis, however, these roles can pay up to 350 a day (or an average salary of 70k). The result is something of a tug-of-war between candidates, who want to contract, and companies who would like to tie AML professionals into permanent roles.

"Fraud and financial crime is a big growth area in Scotland currently," says Maxwell. "Both the retail banks and some of the larger consultancy firms are aggressively hiring. But because of cost-efficiencies they're trying to tie people into fixed term salaried contracts rather than lucrative day rates."

There are high level positions in Scotland, with AML policy manager positions paying 50-60k, and strategic financial crime expanding rapidly within the retail banking sector.

However, the majority of roles coming to market are more administrative, suggests Mike Stirton, associate director, financial services at Change Recruitment in Edinburgh.

"There's a high volume of roles around AML, but the majority are reasonably junior technical administration positions. These usually pay around 16-20k," he says.