Head of Compliance - Fund Administration at Apex Group

Summary of the position

• The role will consist of supporting all the legal and regulatory compliance activities of the relevant Fund Administration entities, as well as taking part in group projects and implementing global procedures on a local level.
• The Head of Compliance will manage the Fund Administration Compliance team and work alongside the Regional Head of Compliance to assist staff members in discharging their responsibility to comply with applicable legislative and regulatory requirements through the provision of compliance services and to identify, assess, manage, monitor and report regulatory compliance risks facing the organization.
• The Head of Compliance will also inform and advise the organization of their data protection obligations and monitor that the organization processes the personal data of its staff, customers, providers or any other individuals (also referred to as data subjects) in compliance with the applicable data protection rules.

Outline of main duties and responsibilities:

Regulatory Compliance duties:

Manage a team of Compliance Officers/Administrators.

• Oversee licensing requirements and regulatory obligations (including reporting, applying for new business products, etc) for the relevant licensed entity and regulatory approved individuals, while ensuring that compliance activity takes account of all relevant legislation and FSCA/FIC/Information Regulator activities.
• Ensure the effective implementation of the Compliance Monitoring programmer and undertake all aspects of monitoring activities.
• Track non-compliant findings with respective business unit managers until resolved.
• Monitor compliance with applicable regulations which includes but is not limited to CISCA, FAIS, FICA,
• POPIA, FATCA, CRS and the efficiency and consistency of compliance controls and assist with the enhancement of procedures and controls.
• Prepare reports to regulatory authorities in terms of applicable regulatory obligations
• Monitor changes in relevant legal requirements and other regulatory developments which may impact the entities, provide support to address and manage such forthcoming regulations through diagnostics, gap analysis and impact studies in order to advise the Directors, senior management and staff on their implications.
• Provide advice to the Directors, senior management and staff on the regulatory implications of new business services and new products;
• Maintain appropriate written procedures to ensure compliance with applicable legislation, regulations and group policies, and to monitor adherence to such procedures in order to demonstrate to the applicable Regulators that the business seeks to adequately manage its compliance risks;
• Manage communications with Regulators, obtaining approvals as required, notifying the Regulators as required for all compliance-related matters
• Maintain a register of PEPs, high risk clients, complaints, conflicts of interest, compliance and data breaches, and actively manage adherence to the related process and mitigation of breaches
• Providing assistance and support in satisfying staff training and development needs and plans in relation to new regulations and legislation.
• Preparing training material and deliver training in compliance with regulatory obligations and business procedures.
• Oversight and management of the regulatory risks within the business.
• Acting as the MLRO, support the establishment and maintenance of the group’s Anti Money
• Laundering policies, procedures, systems and controls in compliance with the Anti Money Laundering
• rules and all relevant legislation applicable and Group Apex Policies
• Monitor suspicious transactions and provide reporting and escalations as required
• Identify potential sanctions
• Consider the political exposure of potential clients and act appropriately;​Contribute to the oversight of relevant service providers and vendors.
• Undertake projects such as those projects addressing new regulatory initiatives and the review of existing policies.

Data Protection duties:

• Ensure that the relevant entities adhere to data protection requirements, are informed about the obligations and responsibilities and raise awareness about them.
• Give advice and recommendations to entity about the interpretation or application of the data protection rules.
• Monitor that a record of processing activities is maintained by the relevant entities.
• Monitor data protection compliance within the entities and help the entities to be accountable in this respect.
• Handle queries or complaints on request by the relevant entities, responsible parties/ controllers in consultation with the Information Officer and Deputies.
• Support the Information Officer and Deputies to cooperate with the local regulators (responding to their requests about investigations, complaint handling, inspections conducted by the local regulators, etc.);
• Draw the entity's attention to any failure to comply with the applicable data protection rules.
• Actively manage the mitigation of data breaches in accordance with Apex’s data breach process. ​
• Monitor that all affected entities have made the necessary data protection notifications, and comply with applicable legislation, group policies and procedures in connection with data protection obligations.

Skills and experience required

Skills

• Strong working knowledge of the South African financial services regulatory framework.
• Strong working knowledge of the Data protection regulatory framework.
• Discreet and confidential manner.
• Confidence and persuasiveness, with the ability to motivate colleagues and support the embedding of a positive compliance and risk management culture.
• Be well organized, with the ability to work autonomously and deal with a busy workload.
• Be prepared to get heavily involved in the running of the regulatory compliance function, investigate complex structures and consider appropriate KYC requirements and risk categorizations.
• Self-motivated, mature and able to use initiative.

Education and Experience

• Degree level qualification, or equivalent, ideally in Law or Compliance and Risk Management;
• At least 5 years’ relevant work experience in the Financial Services Industry within a Compliance function;
• At least 2 years’ experience in the Data protection field;
• FSCA FAIS approval as a Compliance Officer for Category I Financial Services Providers.

Learning and development:

• You will receive training on a day-to-day basis by coaching and mentoring.
• Personal development plan will be agreed on an annual basis; Self-learning
• Attendance to internal training including webinars, workshops and workgro ups as may be required
• Attendance at external seminars and training events as may be required.