Sanctions Advisory (Escalations) - AVP

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Discover your opportunity with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the world’s leading financial groups. Across the globe, we’re 150,000 colleagues, striving to make a difference for every client, organization, and community we serve. We stand for our values, building long-term relationships, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.

With a vision to be the world’s most trusted financial group, it’s part of our culture to put people first, listen to new and diverse ideas and collaborate toward greater innovation, speed and agility. This means investing in talent, technologies, and tools that empower you to own your career.

Join MUFG, where being inspired is expected and making a meaningful impact is rewarded.

OVERVIEW OF THE DEPARTMENT/SECTION

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world’s leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with around 3,000 offices in more than 50 markets. The Group has over 180,000 employees, and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing.

MUFG aims to be the world’s most trusted financial group through close collaboration among its operating companies, and to respond to all of the financial needs of its clients, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.

MUFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges.

Please visit our website for more information - mufgemea.com.

The Financial Crimes Office for EMEA (FCOE) in London is part of the Global Financial Crimes Division (GFCD) headquartered in New York. It works to ensure that our organisation conducts its business such a way that we protect our reputation, our business, and our clients within the regulatory and legal framework. It is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of effective systems and controls to protect clients’ assets and to mitigate the risk that MUFG might be used to further financial crime.

Within the Sanctions team of FCOE, the Sanctions Advisory team is responsible for providing sanctions advise on the relevant regulations, client relationships, transactions and deals; to ensure that the bank remains compliant with laws and regulations. Whilst all members of Sanctions Advisory are responsible for all aspects of sanctions compliance, this particular team is predominantly focused on payment and transaction escalations as well as payment projects.

NUMBER OF DIRECT REPORTS

0

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE ROLE 

Driving the implementation of MUFG Bank’s financial crimes risk appetite, policies and standards by managing and providing an approachable sanctions advisory escalations hub, within the Sanctions Advisory team. The Sanctions Advisory, Escalations team are responsible for managing escalations from the EMEA region on all sanctions queries, which will primarily relate to payments, transactions and customer queries; it is their responsibility to ensure that regulations and laws are well understood and applied against payments, transactions and customer escalations, ensuring advice is clear, informative and consistent.

The role holder will be responsible for:

• Staying abreast of relevant Sanctions laws and regulations
• When sanctions alerts, that are generated through the banks screening systems, are noted as having a ‘True’ sanctions risk; following an initial investigation they are escalated to Level 3. Level 3 reviews are then required, to determine the most appropriate course of action in line with regulations. The role holder will be responsible for reviewing Level 3 screening escalations whilst ensuring adherence to regulations and SLA’s
• Providing Sanctions Payment SME guidance into payment related initiatives, to ensure that the bank remains complaint with sanctions and payment regulations alongside the requirements of payment scheme memberships. Requiring an understanding of payments, infrastructure and other related systems.
• Ensuring MUFG systems are compliant with Sanctions regulations, and representing Sanctions and inputting into payment related projects within the Region and Group.

The role holder will be required to work autonomously with little supervision and have a solid understanding of the regulations and associated sanctions risk. The role requires a good understanding of transactions, payments and the broader banking and regulatory environment, including keeping up to date with developments and their potential impact on MUFG.

The role holder is also responsible for reviewing the investigation of cases, determining if it can be processed and escalating any sanctions issues to Management and Global Sanctions Advisory. In addition, the role holder will be responsible for working with compliance stakeholders across the region to ensure that appropriate follow on actions are agreed and conducted locally.

The role holder is responsible for maintaining appropriate MI on the status of cases, keeping the team and regions up to date with regulatory updates and policy or process changes whilst continually looking for process improvements or efficiencies.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

In addition to the duties described above, you will contribute to the work of the GFCD department in any other ways reasonably expected, including memberships of projects and working groups and assisting with other priorities in the department or group as a whole. 

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the implementation of and compliance with Global Policies, Standards and Procedures which govern MUFG’s financial crime control framework across EMEA; ensuring appropriate Sanctions Risk Management and delivering efficiencies within existing processes
• Investigate L3 escalations driven by sanctions, monitoring case and query volumes and planning for future case volumes based on previous trends
• Provide timely and consistent sanctions advice on L3 escalations to key stakeholders
• Provide regular updates on regulatory developments & their impacts on Sanctions payment systems
• Work alongside other Sanctions SME’s across the region, to ensure that Sanctions Risk is managed
• Liaise with key stakeholders to perform Customer Due Diligence when a sanctions nexus is identified
• Conduct risk assessments on proposed transactions
• Provide training and development to the Sanctions Advisory Escalations team/wider Sanctions Team
• Present key Management Information as well as sanctions regulatory updates at monthly forums, including some external panels and groups.
• Assist GFCD in the collection of customer information pertaining to sanctions data.
• Review and maintain Sanctions Policy documents for the EMEA region
• Contribute to the timely and effective resolution of all EMEA Sanctions issues.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Functional / Technical Competencies:

Essential:

• Experience in and understanding of Sanctions
• Experience in Payments
• Strong knowledge of and experience in banking
• A good understanding of Banking and Investment products
• Good understanding of financial crime risk in banking

Specifics of role:

• Strong analytical skills
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written & verbal
• Good financial sanctions knowledge in particular OFAC, EU and UK regulations
• The ability to operate with urgency and prioritise work accordingly
• Strong decision-making skills, the ability to demonstrate sound judgement
• Strong relationship building and management skills

PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Results driven, with a strong sense of accountability
• Excellent communication skills
• A proactive, motivated approach.
• The ability to operate with urgency and to manage large workloads and tight deadlines
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy
• Strong decision making skills, the ability to demonstrate sound judgement
• A structured and logical approach to work
• A creative and innovative approach to work
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Works collaboratively with immediate colleagues, other teams in Financial Crime, across ECOD and the Bank and escalates appropriately
• Effective operating in a team and matrix-oriented environment, and ability to work with colleagues at all levels of seniority
• A calm approach, with the ability to perform well in a pressurised environment

PERFORMANCE AND DUTIES

The role holder will be assessed in accordance with their employing entity’s performance framework and process with relevant input obtained from the dual hatting entity as relevant.

As duties and responsibilities change, the job description will be reviewed and emended in consultation with the role holder. The role holder will carry out other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the role as requested by their line manager or Department Head.

MANAGING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• The role holder will have responsibilities for both MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc.
• The role holder will be required to perform their duties and responsibilities on an entity neutral basis, without favour.
• The role holder is required to follow regulatory requirements applicable to ensure each business is appropriately supported and to maintain the legal entity integrity of each of MUFG Bank and MUS.
• Working terms are dictated by functional mandates, the terms of the Dual-Hat Arrangement Agreement in place between MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc and any other relevant agreements entered into between MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc.
• The role holder will have responsibility for identifying and resolving where there may be a difference or conflict in needs between MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc, escalating to their manager where required.

We are open to considering flexible working requests in line with organisational requirements.

MUFG is committed to embracing diversity and building an inclusive culture where all employees are valued, respected and their opinions count. We support the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion in recruitment and employment, and oppose all forms of discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender reassignment, religion or belief and marriage or civil partnership.

We make our recruitment decisions in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our commitment to identifying the right skills for the right role and our obligations under the law.