Compliance and risk officer

Key information

Reference: ST0362
Date updated: 05/09/2024
Level: 3
Route: Legal, finance and accounting
Regulated occupation: No

Details of the occupational standard

Occupation summary

This occupation is found in all organisations in the financial services sector, including insurance and banking. Compliance and risk officers also work within finance functions across other sectors where a business may have financial compliance responsibilities, such as ensuring that financial organisations operate within the legal boundaries and industry standards.

Compliance and risk officers play a crucial role in ensuring regulatory adherence and minimising potential risks. They focus on legal and regulatory requirements, while identifying and managing potential risks. The role may vary based on the size of the organisation. In smaller organisations, they may work with a small multiskilled team. In larger organisations, they may specialise in one aspect of compliance and risk, for example financial crime or assurance.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to support businesses to meet their financial legal and regulatory obligations. This is achieved through supporting and maintaining a culture of compliance and conducting risk and assurance checks to monitor ongoing compliance. This is achieved through supporting and maintaining a culture of compliance, such as designing relevant training, and providing guidance to business areas on best practice. Compliance and risk officers work to meet key regulatory objectives to protect investors and ensure that markets are fair, efficient and transparent. They also seek to reduce system risk and financial crime.

Within the risk and compliance function of an organisation, the role of a compliance and risk officer will typically include providing guidance to the business in their specialist area, for example financial fraud.

An employee in this occupation would need to exercise judgement and discretion within specified parameters to evidence credibility, and will make evidence-based decisions on whether or not risk and compliance is being adhered to. On occasion they may need to escalate an issue to a manager.

Compliance and risk officers are typically based in an office. Depending on the size of the organisation they may work across multiple sites. There may also be a requirement for hybrid-working, combining office-based work and working from home.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with colleagues and teams across the organisation to offer advice and support on risk and compliance issues. They may need to interact with more senior colleagues to present information and data.

Compliance and risk officers work to mitigate legal and regulatory risks to avoid penalties and reputational damage. One of their primary responsibilities is to ensure that institutions operate within the boundaries of applicable laws and regulations. They take an active role in managing an organisation’s risk and reducing financial crime.

Depending on their role, they will interact with external stakeholders, such as small and medium enterprises and larger organisations, providing guidance and support to ensure policies on risk and compliance are being correctly applied and meet the legal and regulatory requirements of the finance sector. Typically, they would report to a senior manager with expertise in financial risk and compliance policy.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for supporting an organisation’s adherence to compliance regulation and ensuring that risk is minimised. They may specialise in risk or compliance but can do both depending on the organisation. Within limited parameters, they will be responsible for making their own evidence-based decisions which follow the organisation’s financial policy and procedures. In some organisations they may be responsible for supervising or guiding others.

Typical job titles include:

Anti-money laundering specialist Compliance officer Financial crime officer Risk officer

Occupation duties

Duty	KSBs
Duty 1 Perform risk and or compliance checks and reviews as directed by their line manager to determine whether established protocols are being followed and where they can be improved.	K1 K3 K4 K6 K12 K13 K18 S1 S3 S4 S5 B4
Duty 2 Identify and analyse risk and compliance issues within an organisation.	K1 K2 K4 K5 K6 K12 K13 K18 S1 S4 S5 B1 B2 B5
Duty 3 Undertake risk analysis to identify areas where risk can be mitigated to ensure organisations are fully compliant.	K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 K7 K11 K12 K13 K18 S1 S2 S4 S5 S9 S10 S12 B4
Duty 4 Embed risk and compliance processes and controls to ensure legal and regulatory compliance.	K2 K3 K5 K6 K7 K10 K11 K12 K13 K18 S1 S2 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 B4 B6
Duty 5 Contribute to embedding a culture of compliance within an organisation or organisations.	K1 K2 K3 K6 K7 K9 K10 K11 K12 K13 K16 K17 S1 S2 S6 S8 S9 S10 S12 S14 B1 B2 B4
Duty 6 Prepare information in the form of reports for stakeholders within agreed deadlines.	K4 K8 K10 K12 K15 K16 S2 S3 S6 S7 S8
Duty 7 Undertake compliance and risk research activities under the guidance of managers or senior leaders.	K1 K14 K15 K16 S3 S4 S6 S12 B3
Duty 8 Deliver risk and compliance projects as and when required by managers or senior leaders.	K4 K8 K10 K11 K14 K15 K16 K18 S2 S3 S12 B3
Duty 9 Maintain organisational compliance and risk documentation and policies.	K2 K3 K4 K7 K8 K9 K10 K11 K13 K15 K16 S6 S7 S8 S12 B3 B5
Duty 10 Support with regulatory correspondence and requests for information.	K3 K4 K7 K8 K10 K11 K12 K14 K15 K16 S1 S2 S6 B5
Duty 11 Use digital technology advancements in the management of risk and compliance.	K10 K11 K15 K16 K17 S2 S6 S7 S8 S11 S13 S14 B3 B5

KSBs

Knowledge

K1: Legal and regulatory framework relative to their industry. Back to Duty

K2: Role of the different regulators, and the implications of non-compliance for the organisation. Back to Duty

K3: Legal and regulatory requirements, for example the Financial Conduct Authority handbook, and the policies and procedures to implement these requirements. Back to Duty

K4: Risk and compliance requirements for their role, for example operational risk, financial crime, know your customer, training and competence, approved persons, conduct risk, complaints, data security. Back to Duty

K5: Range and purpose of organisations that are found in their wider industry, and their own organisation’s position within this landscape. Back to Duty

K6: Functions of the organisation and their relationship with risk and compliance policies and procedures. Back to Duty

K7: Impact that the external environment and legal and regulatory requirements have on the organisation and on their industry. Back to Duty

K8: Products and services offered to customers within their organisation and their industry relative to their role. Back to Duty

K9: Approaches to delivering fair customer outcomes, for example identifying vulnerable customers. Back to Duty

K10: Professional standards and best practice, and how these are applied. Back to Duty

K11: Systems, tools and processes that assist in identifying, managing and mitigating compliance and risk issues. Back to Duty

K12: Audit requirements and the responsibilities of the auditor and auditee. Back to Duty

K13: Policies and procedures for the identification and escalation of compliance issues and risks. Back to Duty

K14: Planning, prioritising and time management techniques. Back to Duty

K15: Communication methods, including verbal, non-verbal and written, and how to adapt communication to different audiences. Back to Duty

K16: Digital tools for research, analysis, and presentation of data through visualisation techniques. Back to Duty

K17: Data protection legislation and the processes for sharing and storing information safely and securely, including risks to data from cybercrime. Back to Duty

K18: Green and sustainable policies and practices and the role they play in the finance sector, and how to minimise negative impacts on environmental sustainability within the context of their role. Back to Duty

Skills

S1: Implement legal and regulatory framework requirements. Back to Duty

S2: Deliver risk and compliance services to stakeholders using organisational systems and processes. Back to Duty

S3: Plan and organise workloads to meet individual and team performance targets. Back to Duty

S4: Identify ways to reduce and mitigate incidents of non-compliance. Back to Duty

S5: Escalate compliance and risk issues where appropriate in line with organisational procedures. Back to Duty

S6: Manage records in order to meet audit requirements of the organisation. Back to Duty

S7: Produce evidence-based reports and management information for stakeholders considering visualisation techniques when presenting data. Back to Duty

S8: Select and use communication methods applicable to the audience and circumstances, for example, presentations, phone, face to face, email, virtual meetings. Back to Duty

S9: Communicate about products with customers, colleagues or stakeholders in different styles, for example visually, verbally, written, using e-comms. Back to Duty

S10: Build and maintain working relationships. Back to Duty

S11: Identify own training needs and seek feedback to improve performance and service delivered. Back to Duty

S12: Apply continuous improvement techniques when delivering improved compliance outcomes and mitigating risks. Back to Duty

S13: Record information electronically and make use of available technology, for example Management Information Systems (MIS), spreadsheets, presentation software, word processing, email, virtual communication. Back to Duty

S14: Handle data safely and securely and share information in compliance with data protection legislation and organisational policy. Back to Duty

Behaviours

B1: Acts in a professional and ethical manner. Back to Duty

B2: Maintains confidentiality and acts with due care and diligence. Back to Duty

B3: Seeks to continuously improve and develop themselves and their team. Back to Duty

B4: Adapts to, and is resilient in, challenging or changing situations. Back to Duty

B5: Keeps up to date with relevant legal, regulatory and other changes affecting the industry. Back to Duty

B6: Collaborates with and supports colleagues. Back to Duty

End-point assessment (EPA plan)

Rigorous robust and independent assessment undertaken by an apprentice at the end of training to test that the apprentice can perform in the occupation they have been trained in and can demonstrate the duties, and knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) set out in the occupational standard

End-point assessment organisation (EPAO)

An organisation approved to deliver end-point assessment for a particular apprenticeship standard. EPAOs must be on the register of end-point assessment organisations

Holistic or synoptic

Assessment of an apprentice’s knowledge, skills and behaviours in an integrated way i.e. assessing several KSBs at the same time

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSB)

What is needed to competently undertake the duties required for an occupational standard

Valid

Referred to in relation to assessment methods; fit for purpose

Change request policy

Most changes to an apprenticeship are made as a result of a holistic review of it. We prioritise the need for such reviews based on a range of factors. These include:

the time since the apprenticeship was developed or last reviewed (taking account of its typical duration)
the existence of any known problems with it (e.g. lower than expected starts, low achievement rate, high withdrawal rate, any issues with the availability of training or end-point assessment provision)
whether the apprenticeship is currently subject to a dispensation
the relative significance of the apprenticeship based on how many users it has

The availability of an employer group to support a review and its potential impact on any related technical education product also inform the timing of a review.

Details of apprenticeships that are currently being revised or adjusted are available in our revisions and adjustments status report.

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