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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Compliance Analyst (Finance)

💰 $60,000 - $100,000

ComplianceFinanceRisk ManagementAnti-Money Laundering (AML)Regulatory

🎯 Role Definition

A Compliance Analyst (Finance) is responsible for ensuring the organization adheres to applicable laws, regulations, and internal policies governing financial operations. This role conducts transaction monitoring, customer due diligence (CDD/KYC), sanctions screening, investigations, and reporting; supports remediation and control testing; and partners with business units and regulators to maintain an effective compliance program. Ideal candidates bring strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and experience with AML/financial crime tools, regulatory reporting, and control frameworks.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Junior Compliance Analyst / Compliance Coordinator
  • AML/KYC Analyst or Transaction Monitoring Analyst
  • Risk & Controls Analyst or Operations Analyst

Advancement To:

  • Senior Compliance Analyst / Lead Compliance Analyst
  • Compliance Manager / AML Manager
  • Financial Crime Manager or Risk Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Regulatory Reporting Analyst
  • Internal Audit (Financial Crimes focus)
  • Fraud Investigator / Operational Risk Analyst

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Conduct end-to-end investigations of alerts generated by transaction monitoring systems (including case intake, evidence collection, risk assessment, escalations, and closure), preparing clear case narratives and documented rationales consistent with AML policy and audit standards.
  • Perform customer due diligence (CDD), enhanced due diligence (EDD), and ongoing KYC reviews for retail and commercial clients by analyzing account activity, ownership structures, beneficial ownership, and source-of-funds documentation to identify and mitigate financial crime risk.
  • Review sanctions and watchlist screening hits (OFAC, EU, UN, HMT and other domestic/international lists) and make disposition decisions or escalate potential matches for remediation, filing, or regulatory reporting.
  • Prepare, file, and maintain Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs/STRs) and other regulatory filings in accordance with jurisdictional requirements (BSA/AML, FinCEN, local financial regulators), ensuring timely submission and appropriate recordkeeping.
  • Maintain and tune transaction monitoring rules and thresholds in collaboration with analytics and vendor teams to reduce false positives and improve detection of suspicious behavior across payment channels, wire transfers, trade finance and other product lines.
  • Execute risk assessments for products, services, customers and geographies, documenting inherent and residual risk and recommending risk mitigation actions to align with the firm’s risk appetite and regulatory expectations.
  • Support regulatory examinations, audits and internal reviews by preparing evidence packages, responding to examiner requests, and implementing remediation plans to address findings and weaknesses.
  • Perform periodic control testing and quality assurance reviews of compliance processes (KYC, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring) to validate effectiveness of controls and to drive continuous improvement.
  • Collaborate with legal, operations, client onboarding, and senior management to interpret regulatory guidance, implement policy changes, and ensure consistent application of compliance standards across the business.
  • Develop and maintain documented compliance policies, procedures, process maps and escalation workflows; propose updates when regulatory changes or business needs require policy enhancements.
  • Generate and present compliance metrics, key risk indicators (KRIs), trend analyses and management reporting that summarize alert volumes, disposition rates, SAR submissions, and remediation status for senior stakeholders and the board.
  • Triage and resolve complex alerts involving multi-jurisdictional issues, cross-product activity, or linked entities, coordinating information sharing while maintaining confidentiality and data protection requirements.
  • Conduct root cause analysis and lead remediation initiatives for recurring false-positive drivers or procedural gaps, working with technologists to implement fixes in monitoring logic, data feeds or integration points.
  • Provide subject matter expertise during implementation or upgrades of AML/KYC systems (e.g., NICE Actimize, FIS, Fenergo, SAS, Oracle Mantas, Verafin), including user acceptance testing (UAT), data validation and training.
  • Manage relationships with third-party vendors and data providers (watchlist suppliers, identity verification services, transaction monitoring vendors) to ensure service quality, contract compliance and timely issue resolution.
  • Review and approve account openings and periodic reviews for high-risk customers, including politically exposed persons (PEPs), sanctioned jurisdictions, private banking clients, correspondent banking relationships and complex corporate structures.
  • Escalate emerging compliance risks and suspicious behavior to the Compliance Officer or designated escalation committee and assist in decision-making for high-risk remediation actions (accounthold, suspension, closure).
  • Support onboarding teams by advising on acceptable documentation, beneficial ownership requirements and remediation expectations for new or existing clients to close KYC gaps prior to activation of services.
  • Lead or contribute to compliance training and awareness sessions for frontline staff, product teams and new hires focusing on AML red flags, KYC requirements, sanctions screening and internal escalation procedures.
  • Maintain accurate, auditable records of investigations, decisions, remediation actions and file attachments to support regulatory review, litigation readiness and internal governance.
  • Monitor legal and regulatory developments (BSA, AMLA, Anti-Bribery, sanctions regimes) and translate changes into operational impacts, implementation plans and updates to training and policies.
  • Assist in cross-border compliance coordination with subsidiaries and external counsel to ensure consistent application of sanctions, reporting obligations and data sharing protocols in multi-jurisdictional matters.
  • Provide ad hoc analytical support, run queries, and produce datasets for deep-dive investigations or strategic initiatives that require correlation of transactional, customer, and external data sources.
  • Participate in continuous improvement projects using process mapping, automation opportunities and Lean/Six Sigma techniques to increase efficiency, reduce manual work and strengthen controls.

Secondary Functions

  • Support regulatory exam readiness efforts, coordinate document requests and act as a primary point-of-contact for examiners where delegated.
  • Deliver tailored compliance training and quick reference guides for high-risk business units (Treasury, Trade Finance, Corporate Banking).
  • Assist in remediation programs for legacy KYC gaps, including bulk reviews, exception handling and workflow prioritization.
  • Support data governance and validation activities to ensure the integrity of customer and transaction data used in monitoring systems.
  • Participate in cross-functional projects (product launches, system implementations, M&A integration) to assess compliance impact and implement required controls.
  • Provide periodic ad-hoc reporting and forensic analysis to internal audit, legal or executive stakeholders as requested.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • AML Compliance: Strong experience with AML frameworks (BSA, AMLA), SAR/STR filing, and case management best practices.
  • KYC/EDD: Customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, beneficial ownership identification and PEP screening expertise.
  • Sanctions & Watchlist Screening: Hands-on experience reviewing OFAC, EU, UN and domestic sanctions hits and conducting required escalations.
  • Transaction Monitoring: Familiarity with transaction monitoring logic, alert tuning, rule creation and false-positive reduction.
  • Regulatory Reporting: Preparing and filing regulatory reports, responding to regulatory requests and supporting external exams.
  • Compliance Technologies: Proficient with AML/KYC platforms (e.g., NICE Actimize, Verafin, Fenergo, SAS AML, Mantas) and case management systems.
  • Data Analysis & Tools: Advanced Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, Power Query), SQL for data extraction and experience with BI/visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau).
  • Documentation & Policy Writing: Ability to write clear policies, procedures, case narratives, and regulatory submissions.
  • Identity Verification & Screening Tools: Experience with third-party data providers (World-Check, Refinitiv, LexisNexis, Dow Jones) and digital ID verification workflows.
  • IT & System Testing: Basic skills in user acceptance testing (UAT), data validation and working with IT teams on system enhancements.
  • Recordkeeping & Audit Trail Management: Strong knowledge of regulatory record retention, audit documentation and evidence preservation.
  • Project Management: Ability to lead small projects, implement remediation programs and coordinate cross-functional stakeholders.

Soft Skills

  • Analytical Thinking: Strong investigative mindset and ability to synthesize transactional and customer data to draw conclusions.
  • Attention to Detail: Meticulous documentation and precision when making disposition decisions and filing reports.
  • Communication: Clear written and verbal communication for reports to regulators, senior leadership and cross-functional teams.
  • Judgement & Decision-Making: Sound risk-based judgment to escalate or close matters and recommend appropriate remedial actions.
  • Collaboration: Skilled at working with cross-functional teams (legal, operations, product, IT) and external vendors.
  • Time Management: Prioritizes high-risk matters and manages a caseload under tight deadlines.
  • Resilience & Integrity: Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and maintain professional ethics.
  • Adaptability: Comfortable operating in a changing regulatory environment and learning new systems quickly.
  • Coaching & Training: Able to deliver practical training to frontline users and contribute to a compliance-aware culture.
  • Problem Solving: Proactively identifies process gaps and proposes pragmatic remediation and automation solutions.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, Criminal Justice, Information Systems or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree + professional certifications (e.g., CAMS, CRCM, CFE) or a Master’s degree in a related discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Finance
  • Accounting
  • Economics
  • Criminal Justice / Criminology
  • Information Systems / Data Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2–5 years of hands-on experience in AML, KYC, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring or regulatory compliance within a financial services environment.

Preferred:

  • 4–7+ years of experience handling complex investigations, regulatory filings and system implementations in banking, payments, fintech or brokerage firms; CAMS or equivalent certification preferred.
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