Head, Conduct Risk & ABC at Equity Bank Kenya

 
Equity Bank is one of the region’s leading banks whose purpose is to transform the lives and livelihoods of the people of Africa socially and economically by availing them modern and inclusive financial services that maximize their opportunities. With a strong footprint in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and DRC Congo, Equity Bank is now home to over 12 million customers - the largest customer base in Africa. Currently the Bank is seeking additional talent to serve in the role outlined below.

The Head, Conduct & ABC shall support the Group Director, CFCC by working with other Risk and the business leaders to manage the strategy and execution of the Group’s Conduct risk framework and ABC program. The role supports the effective management of conduct risk in the Group and provides pro-active, accurate and timely advice on conduct risk and ABC matters to enable all subsidiaries operate in accordance with regulatory requirements, global best practice, conduct risk plan and the Group’s code of conduct. The role will require good knowledge of conduct risk frameworks and ABC programs, as well as the potential sources of conduct and ABC risks and the impact on client outcomes. The role shall work with other leaders in the first and second lines of defense to identify, assess, monitor and address such activities.  

Primary Responsibilities –

•  Support the Group Director, CFCC to implement and maintain effective Group Conduct risk framework and ABC program and provide strategic direction in how they are managed.
• Work with the Head of Compliance Risk Assessment, Governance & Testing as well as other relevant Group stakeholders to identify, control and assess Conduct and ABC risks in Group.
• Advise on pre-approval processes for Gifts, Travel and Entertainment (GTE) requests and sponsorship events.
• Deliver regulatory advice to stakeholders to ensure that Conduct and ABC regulatory requirements are fully understood and met on an ongoing basis in all business activities and in line with Conduct and ABC risk appetite.
• Drive effectiveness of the Group Conduct Risk Framework and ABC program by incorporating effective and practical advice into sound early-stage second line challenge.
• Support the rollout and implementation of procedures for the Group’s control room to manage the flow of sensitive information and mitigate the risk of conflicts from the Group’s multiple services. The role will lead in ensuring that employees consistently exercise discretion in handling discrete information, using policies, procedures, agreements, declarations, attestations, etc.  
• Develop an approach for the timely identification of opportunities to enhance the management and oversight of Conduct and ABC risks, and ensuring appropriate action is taken by relevant parties to deliver improvements.
• Work with the Head of Regulatory Compliance, and other relevant stakeholders in the Group, to ensure that new products and initiatives; customer communications; and product literature in the Group meet required customer outcomes and are of delivered to standard.
• Implement a process that identifies and manages potential conduct risks from regulatory change initiatives and provides assurance that changes have been effectively embedded in the relevant business areas.
• Develop and implement strategies to broaden internal and external networks and keep up to date with regulatory requirements and industry best practice to continuously improve the effectiveness of Group conduct and ABC risk management.

Qualifications
 
Minimum Requirements

• Requires 12 years of professional experience and 5+ years of management experience.

Critical Skills

• No less than 9 years of compliance management experience, with significant portion in ABC, Conduct risk and Ethics within a large international bank or corporation.
• Strong understanding of Compliance obligations and requirements within the banking industry.
• Good experience in leveraging analytics and technology solutions to manage Conduct and ABC related risks.
• Critical thinking skills to understand and analyze complex problems.
• Effective communicator with strong writing and verbal abilities to communicate across all levels of the Group.
• Ability to develop strong relationships and collaborate with senior business and function leaders to influence change
• Proven focus on deliverables, organized, and ability to manage multiple high priority deliverables
• Self-starter, highly organized, and detailed-oriented
• Strategic and critical thinking and the ability to concisely convey complex regulatory concepts and possible solution sets.
• Excellent facilitation and presentation skills
• Exercise high level of discretion and confidentiality due to the sensitive nature of the scope of work
• Extremely detail oriented with ability to elevate details into strategies.

Education

• Master’s degree plus relevant professional qualifications such as CAMS, ICA.