Head of Compliance - Switzerland Job - Offshore Banking

About Switzerland

Switzerland is a country of roughly 7.7 million people (2009) in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km². Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called cantons. It is not a member of the European Union.

Its official currency is the Swiss Franc and it operates on Central European Time (CET).

Switzerland whilst land locked is very much an offshore finance jurisdiction – combining both a low tax regime with being an offshore banking centre. Approximately 5.6% of the total Swiss workforce works in banking jobs.

The city of Zurich is the country's banking heart as it is where the majority of the world's offshore bank headquarters are located. Swiss banks hold an estimated 35% of the world's private and institutional funds (or 3 trillion Swiss francs). The obvious strategic growth areas for the jurisdiction include:

Private Banking
Wealth Management
Fund Management
Fund Operations

Job Specification

Large Swiss bank is urgently seeking an experienced and talented Head of Compliance to work out of its Zurich office.

The Head of Swiss Compliance works in partnership with senior legal adviser in a combined Swiss Legal and Compliance Department.

Whilst you will be a member of the local management team, this is an executive director level offshore compliance job, and as such you will report directly to the Head of International Private Client Compliance located in London.

As Head of Compliance in Switzerland you will be mainly tasked with ensuring the business units, including the award winning Private Wealth management department, are fully in compliance with local and international regulation.

In this well paid Swiss job your main duties will be providing an advisory function to all teams. This compliance advice will include:

Swiss law / regulation (e.g. Swiss banking secrecy, Swiss AML requirements)
International law / regulation (e.g. cross border licensing, US FCPA and OFAC requirements, UK AML)
Firm policies and procedures (e.g. employee dealing, wall crossing, conflicts management, supervisory responsibilities).

To be considered for the Head of Compliance vacancy you should have at least ten years experience in compliance for financial services organisations.

Given the nature of the role it is expected this is not your first Swiss banking role.

You should also be fluent in either French or German, with English being a given.

The Head of Compliance positions commands a high salary and access to the bonus pool.

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