Compliance H2 Market Update

Market Trends

• Following the impact in Q2 of the COVID19 pandemic, the second half of the year has seen progressive adjustment and acceptance of our current restrictions, only temporarily slowed by lockdown 2 on November 5th. We have all become very familiar with video call on the various platforms and a front to back remote recruitment process has become the norm.
• Sections of the Compliance market remain quieter than usual, monitoring at the senior end and contracting as whole, in particular.
• Many clients who initially implemented a hiring freeze ended those in the second half of the year (in many cases following cost cutting in August/September). There is a general pressure for firms to look at internal options particularly where there are employees currently at risk.
• The majority continue to work from home.  Some clients made an exception for employees to work on site, where coming to the office was beneficial to their Mental Health. In the majority of cases those coming are split into shifts/groups to avoid cross contamination (e.g. an A team and b team attending on alternate weeks).

• Libor – we continue to see roles specific to libor transition and benchmarks as the deadline approaches
• Brexit – while the majority of clients Brexit planning is well in hand with additional entities/locations now established the expectation is that there will be an increase in transition projects particularly around KYC transitioning clients across.

Senior Moves

• Florent Pallaysi Credit Agricole global head of advisory from HSBC where he was head of Treasury
• Jessica Taylor Head of ICG Compliance Citi from BAML
• Simon Friend RBC Head of Surveillance from Credit Suisse
• Alasdair Amos Head of Surveillance Barclays from RBC
• John Hall – Group head at Bank of Ireland from Barclays
• Steve Clarke, David Churton, Andy King promoted in Surveillance at Morgan Stanley
• Sarah Blomfeld General Counsel Evercore from Rothschild

Human Resources

• Diversity continues to be a major focus for our clients. We were released a number of roles in the second half of the year with a request to address a potential imbalance in the shortlist/team. While most of our clients are making good process on diversity questions are still asked about subsequent inclusion and belonging. Heres a an article produced by our CEO Ben Hudson on the subject https://www.blackswangroup.com/blog?title=Diversity%20Within%20Fund%20Managers%20Improves%20Performance%20
• Employee wellbeing – Foresight group recently shared with us a series of podcasts they produced with a leadership coach on wellbeing the link is included in the following article by our head of Sales Dan Woods  https://www.blackswangroup.com/blog?title=Employee%20Wellbeing%20during%20the%20Pandemic

Salary Spikes and Skills in demand

• Benchmarks – Candidates with hands on experience of Compliance advisory in relation to benchmarks continue to be in high demand as next years deadline approaches.
• Heads of Surveillance – throughout the year there has been turnover at the senior end of Surveillance with experience of building and managing surveillance teams.

Country, Risk or Banking Industry News

• Two top Morgan Stanley Commodities executives left the firm in October after Compliance Breaches in relation to their use of whatsapp https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/top-morgan-stanley-commodities-bankers-leave-after-rules-breach
• Citigroup fined $400m by the US regulator in relation to Internal Controls  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/business/citigroup-fine-risk-management.html
• Goldman Sachs fined $5bn in 1MDB bribery case the biggest in US enforcement history https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/10/22/goldman-sachs-to-pay-billions-in-new-penalties-over-1mdb-scandal
• JP Morgan to pay $250m in relation to inadequate risk management controls in their wealth management business https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/11/24/jpmorgan-to-pay-250-million-fine-over-pattern-of-misconduct-in-wealth-management-business-its-second-huge-settlement-in-two-months/?sh=58947b263dbf
• FCA bans three ex advisors over sex crime convictions  https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-bans-three-individuals-working-financial-services-industry-non-financial-misconduct