Client and Payments Screening Analyst - ICBC Standard Bank

ICBC Standard Bank; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial markets bank in London is seeking a Client and Payments Screening Analyst responsible for conducting sanctions screening and risk management. The ideal candidate will have experience in a regulatory function, be familiar with screening tools, and possess strong analytical skills. This role offers hybrid working options and competitive benefits including a discretionary bonus and comprehensive wellbeing support.

Benefits

Discretionary annual bonus

Hybrid working options

Private medical insurance

Pension contribution (10%)

Enhanced family leave

Wellbeing subsidies

Qualifications

• Experience in screening or a regulatory control function.
• Understanding of trade lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Conduct timely and accurate screening for sanctions and risks.
• Perform detailed review and adjudication of payment messages.
• Engage with internal stakeholders and provide guidance.

Skills

Screening experience

Regulatory control knowledge

Mandarin language skills

Banking experience

Understanding of FCA rules

Tools

Fircosoft

Fenergo

SWIFT

Job description

Client and Payments screening Analyst

About the job

The Sanctions screening and KYC teams play an integral part in the governance of transactions and client risk management. They are responsible for the adjudication of generated by the bank's screening solutions, ensuring timely and accurate disposition of potential risk. We work closely with stakeholders to manage requests and escalations, helping to safeguard the organisation from financial crime and regulatory breaches by applying sound judgment and investigative rigor in handling.

What you'll be doing

The purpose of the role is to conduct timely and accurate screening to uncover exposure to sanctions, PEPs and adverse news linked to our business or existing client base. The role holder will contribute towards the team being seen as a centre of knowledge and excellence for screening to all internal stakeholders, including Risk, Compliance, and Audit notwithstanding, collaborating with other key stakeholders in Global Markets Operations and CMU teams within the bank. The role's remit will be ensuring that the Bank performs screening in line with requirements set by the Bank's Financial Crime Policy.

You'll be responsible for :

Screening and handling

• Perform detailed level 1 (reviewer) and level 2 (approver) adjudication of for payment (SWIFT) messages against Sanctions watchlists within SLA timelines
• Perform client screening adjudication of for Sanctions / PEP / Adverse within agreed SLA timeframes
• Identify any adverse, PEP or sanction nexus for escalation appropriately
• Carry out complex research / investigations in order to determine false positives vs. true matches and escape as appropriate in strict accordance with internal procedures
• Conduct additional manual searches where necessary to identify the risks our clients pose from an AML, ABC, ATF and general reputational risk perspective
• Be flexible to move between payment or client screening as demand and volume dictates

Stakeholder engagement

• Liaise with KYC peers, EDD / AML Compliance and other senior management including the Deputy head of financial crime
• Provide guidance and informal training to junior team members or new joiners to ensure a consistent and standardised approach to payment and client screening
• Be a point of contact for queries from internal teams

Control & Reporting

• Maintain procedures and daily checklists to ensure that they are reflective of all appropriate tasks and key controls
• Oversee delivery of Quality Assurance process and conduct reviews on a sample of regional
• Display a strong understanding of payment prioritisation - respecting SLAs and cut off times
• Undertake daily, weekly, and monthly analysis of MI data and analyse to identify trends and performance metrics

Operational excellence

• Manage screening queues and shared inboxes to ensure timely processing and responses
• Support ad-hoc tasks and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance screening and KYC effectiveness

System & Tools

• Maintain strong working knowledge of screening tools (e.g. Fircosoft, Fenergo, and SWIFT) and use this for fine tuning and optimisation requirements as well as list management tasks
• Highlight and help resolve system or process issues to the Head of Client and Payment Sanctions screening
• Additional ad hoc duties or tasks as required / delegated by management

What you'll need to be successful

We're looking for the following skills and experience. If you don't have all of these but think you could be a good fit for the role, get in touch.

• Experience in screening or a regulatory control function
• Experience of using screening tools such as World-Check One, Fircosoft, or Fenergo desirable
• Mandarin language skills (translations) desirable but not essential
• Relevant business knowledge
• Understanding of FCA rules and regulations or equivalent
• Banking experience and understanding of trade lifecycle

Why should you join us?

ICBC Standard Bank Plc (ICBCS) is a leading financial markets and commodities bank, driven to deliver the right outcomes for our stakeholders, clients, counterparties and markets. We benefit from a unique Chinese and African parentage and an unrivalled global network and expertise. We're headquartered in London, with operations in Shanghai, Singapore and New York.

We’re a diverse and close-knit global team. We put people first, giving talented, self‑driven professionals the flexibility, rewards and freedom to grow their expertise and realise their potential.

Our vison statement, "Be Yourself, Succeed Together" underpins our drive for an open and transparent culture which values difference, enabling everyone to thrive whilst being themselves. We have an active E, D&I forum and we’re growing other employee network groups, including for women and neurodiversity.

We’re committed to the principle of equal opportunities. All applicants will be treated equally and will be considered on their merits and skills without discrimination.

What's in it for you?

• Financial market-based pay based on skills and experience, discretionary annual bonus, pension contribution 10% (employee contribution 5%), travel insurance, life assurance and income replacement insurance.
• Hybrid working the option to work remotely up to two days per week, depending on the role.
• Family - 6 months fully paid maternity leave and enhanced shared parental leave. Coaching for family leave returners and access to emergency care via My Family Care. Miscarriage and menopause policies.
• Wellbeing - private medical insurance, Bike2Work scheme, health and fitness subsidy, holiday exchange and an Employee Assistance Programme.
• Community paid volunteering leave and Give As You Earn scheme. Vibrant CSR and engagement forums and fundraising for our charity partners.
• Development a suite of opportunities to build the skills you need to excel in your role

If you're excited about becoming part of our team, get in touch. We'd love to hear from you!