EMEA Investments Chief Compliance Officer (CCO)

Job Description

EMEA Investments Chief Compliance Officer (CCO)

Job Location: London

How important is this?

This role will pay a pivotal part to lead the Non-Financial Risk Assessment (NFRA) for EMEA region which is a strategically important project for Corporate Ethics and Compliance (CEC). This will require the incumbent to have a high level of influence and work closely with the Investments teams in country to identify the non-financial risks that could materialize within their unit. To then evaluate the existing controls in place to mitigate these risks and assess their effectiveness to arrive at a residual non-financial risk assessment for each of the country’s operations.

This position will be responsible for coverage of the Investments compliance programs that apply to all activity of MetLife Investments personnel across the EMEA region. This role will provide day-to-day support for Investments compliance related questions (Gifts & Entertainment, Trading, PM, Code of Ethics, Guidelines, etc.) within region.

We strive to attract, develop and retain diverse talent with the potential to be future leaders of our department and of MetLife as a whole. We seek compliance professionals who demonstrate high intellectual capacity to understand complex matters facing our company, combined with strong leadership competencies to motivate and inspire higher performance by all our professionals. We take an active role in developing the skills of our talent and guiding their professional growth. By promoting skill development and career advancement for our professionals. we are better positioned to serve our internal business partners and to help achieve MetLife’s vision of becoming a world-class leader in the insurance, retirement savings and employee benefits industries.

Who are we and where does this role sit?

MetLife Investment Management (“MIM”) is a global asset manager with over $600 billion of total assets under management. It manages money in several asset classes for MetLife’s general account, insurance company subsidiaries, affiliated mutual funds, and third parties.

At MetLife the CEC manages the firm’s compliance risks preventing violations of law, rule, or regulation, and designs and delivers a compliance risk management framework that maintains risk levels within the firm's risk appetite and protects the franchise. CEC is a risk-based department, focused on emerging risks, and providing constructive challenge to the business and functions, partnering closely with them to implement strong processes and effective controls, as well as to better foster and embed a culture of compliance. CEC monitors trends and changes in regulations and develops and implements global and divisional policies and procedures.

Role Value Proposition:

The role is Chief Compliance Officer and the Money Laundering Reporting Officer for the regulated UK Entity (“MIML”). There is a regulatory requirement and the role is responsible for being the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) senior manager for both functions (SMF16 and SMF17). As such, this role is accountable for leading, implementing and overseeing an FCA compliance program in the U.K., acting as a liaison with the FCA regarding licensing matters and regulated activity, and providing on-going compliance advice, counsel and oversight to the regulated entity and its personnel. This role will need to offer credible challenge, escalation of issues and reporting, as appropriate, and working closely with the Investments teams to implement controls and guidelines while ensuring compliance with global and regional policies, procedures and standards, law, rule and regulation. This role entails working closely and collaborating with Investments leadership, local compliance teams and the functions on strategic initiatives and emerging issues.

This role would be expected to stay abreast of all applicable laws, rules and regulations ensuring they are then incorporated with advice offered to the Investments teams. This role will partner with the first line to develop appropriate risk mitigation strategies and controls, conducting monitoring and testing to ensure that all EMEA investment activities and the employees responsible for investing on behalf of the company comply with regulatory requirements and company standards.

This position will require working collaboratively with Investments professionals and senior management teams, throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S., and with other Investments Department risk control organizations, including Global Risk Management, the Investments Section of the Law Department, and Internal Audit. This role is a key and critical position to ensure that MiFID II, GDPR, and the Senior Managers and Certification Regime have been effectively implemented across the MetLife Investment Management Limited (“MIML”) UK entity and ensure that the appropriate governance and control environment is developed to become compliant with any future regulatory developments.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop strategic relationships with Investments leaders and inform them of significant compliance matters that require their attention or action. Proactively anticipate or help the business plan for changes in the compliance and regulatory environment.
• Provide support to the Business on policy interpretation and “gray area” exposures.
• Fulfilling the regulatory requirements of compliance oversight and money laundering reporting officer as defined by the FCA;
• Manage and oversee all interactions with the FCA, MIML’s primary, local regulator;
• Build and maintain strong relationships with other functional leads, including Legal Affairs, Internal Audit, and Risk Management to create a supportive and seamless compliance and ethical control culture with an appropriate risk environment.
• Work with management to ensure continued improvement in self-identification of issues, and appropriate escalation and monitoring processes to ensure timely and effective remediation to mitigate compliance risk.
• Be a transformation leader for CEC to strengthen CECs and MetLife’s compliance risk management by being forward looking, embracing and leading change, collaborating on compliance best practices, and methodically working to strengthen compliance coverage of the Business.
• Advise on and providing credible challenge to the Business’ compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and compliance policies.
• Advise on compliance policy interpretation and working with the Business to resolve significant breaches and violations of such policies, and external reporting when required.
• Participate in meetings with key Business stakeholders to stay informed of new product ideas, business strategies and initiatives, and emerging risks.
• Stay abreast of changes in the UK regulatory environment and analyze the business impact of regulatory changes. Ensure that pertinent new laws and regulations are included in the inventory of applicable laws and regulations maintained, and that business operations are educated appropriately and implement changes accordingly.
• Oversee the ongoing monitoring and testing of the control environment related to key compliance risks identified for the Business and recommend and/or implement control enhancements when control deficiencies are identified.
• Maintain and update compliance policies and procedures. Ensure revisions are communicated to relevant associates.
• Oversee and conduct ongoing training to Business team members to reinforce the importance of the CEC program and the applicability of the CEC policies and procedures, and the three lines of defense model for managing compliance risk.
• Identify and communicate results of compliance risk assessments, compliance-identified issues, and control concerns to appropriate senior management including Business leaders, Risk Management, Legal Affairs and Operations officers.
• Stay abreast of all regulatory examination findings to ensure control weaknesses identified by regulators are addressed.
• Complete all necessary regulatory reporting; and
• Oversee the day-to-day administration of several key controls related to the Investments compliance program across the EMEA region, including, but not limited to, oversight of portfolio guideline monitoring, insider trading controls, market abuse monitoring, gifts and business entertainment reporting, AML, sanctions screening, regulatory reporting, and marketing material review.
• Partner with Internal Audit, Risk Management, Government Relations, and Legal Affairs to understand any identified weaknesses in controls, areas of concerns, and top emerging risks. Assisting in developing new controls and/or processes to improve the control environment.
• Act as a key contact to Business associates for all compliance-related questions or concerns.

Essential Business Experience

Required:

• Minimum of 10 years’ experience with an FCA registered investment management firm with at least 3 years serving as Compliance oversight head (CF10 / SMF16).
• Extensive knowledge of rules and regulations applicable to MetLife’s Investment activities in Europe, especially GDPR, MiFID II, and the Senior Managers Regime.

Preferred:

• Training experience, legal background, and foreign languages.

Essential Technical Skills:

Required:

• LLB, LLM, JD or MBA
• Excellent written communication skills, including ability to write procedures, prepare formal disclosure statements and regulatory reports, and work with complicated excel spreadsheets.
• Demonstrated ability to assess risk and communicate results to board level senior management.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze risks and controls, determining when controls are not operating effectively and act accordingly.
• Excellent oral communication skills, including ability to communicate with all levels of management.
• Demonstrated ability to translate and communicate requirements in ley persons terms, enabling business partners to better understand requirements, working together toward implementation of solutions.
• Dedicated, self-motivated with an ability to work independently as well as being a team player.

Leadership Competencies:

• Thinks Strategically – Sets direction of the MIML compliance risk management program aligned to the company’s strategy, applying external and global perspective to meet changing regulatory requirements.
• Creates Partnerships – Authentically builds trusted relationships and collaborates across global, diverse and multi-functional teams to successfully drive business objectives.
• Drives Results – Sets aggressive goals and is accountable for continuously driving improved performance, leading change and ensuring high standards.

MetLife will assist in the funding of Professional Fees for employees where it is relevant and aligned to your position within the organisation. MetLife reserve the right to make a judgement on whether the subscription is relevant or not to your role as well as cease the payment at any time. This type of subscription will not incur “benefit in kind” tax.

SM&CR

This role is a Senior Manager role and therefore is subject to the Senior Manager and Certification Regime.

All Senior Managers are required to comply with the FCA’s Tier 1 Conduct Rules and Tier 2 Senior Manager Conduct Rules which are as follows:

Tier 1 – Individual Conduct Rules

1. You must act with integrity
2. You must act with due care, skill and diligence
3. You must be open and cooperative with the FCA, the PRA and other regulators
4. You must pay due regard to the interests of customers and treat them fairly
5. You must observe proper standards of market conduct

Tier 2 – Senior Manager Conduct Rules

1. You must take reasonable steps to ensure that the business of the firm for which you are responsible is controlled effectively
2. You must take reasonable steps to ensure that the business of the firm for which you are responsible complies with the relevant requirements and standards of the regulatory system
3. You must take reasonable steps to ensure that any delegation of your responsibilities is to an appropriate person and that you oversee the discharge of the delegated responsibility effectively
4. You must disclose appropriately any information of which the FCA or the PRA would reasonably expect notice

At MetLife, we’re leading the global transformation of an industry we’ve long defined. United in purpose, diverse in perspective, we’re dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our customers.

MetLife is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to attracting, retaining and maximizing the performance of a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is the policy of MetLife to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination on any basis protected by law.

For immediate consideration, click the Apply Now button. You will be directed to complete an on-line profile. Upon completion, you will receive an automated confirmation email verifying you have successfully applied to the job.

Requisition #: 115485

We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, religions and sexual orientations.

We strive to find the best candidate for all positions and a diverse range of applicants ensures we widen our talent pool in order to achieve this.

Those with disabilities and neurodiverse conditions, please do let us know about your reasonable adjustments to ensure that we can best meet your needs.

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