Assistant Vice President, Sanctions Advisory

Do you want your voice heard and your actions to count?

Discover your opportunity with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the world’s leading financial groups. Across the globe, we’re 150,000 colleagues, striving to make a difference for every client, organization, and community we serve. We stand for our values, building long-term relationships, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.

With a vision to be the world’s most trusted financial group, it’s part of our culture to put people first, listen to new and diverse ideas and collaborate toward greater innovation, speed and agility. This means investing in talent, technologies, and tools that empower you to own your career.

Join MUFG, where being inspired is expected and making a meaningful impact is rewarded.

OVERVIEW OF THE DEPARTMENT/SECTION

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world’s leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with around 3,000 offices in more than 50 markets. The Group has over 180,000 employees, and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing.

MUFG aims to be the world’s most trusted financial group through close collaboration among its operating companies, and to respond to all of the financial needs of its clients, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.

MUFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges.

Please visit our website for more information - mufgemea.com.

The Financial Crimes Office for EMEA (FCOE) in London is part of the Global Financial Crimes Division (GFCD) headquartered in New York. FCOE works to ensure the organisation conducts its business in such a way that we protect our reputation, our business, and our clients within the regulatory and legal framework.

The Regional EMEA Sanctions Team is structured across three core pillars: (i) EMEA Sanctions Investigations, (ii) EMEA Sanctions Advisory, and (iii) EMEA Sanctions Programs. This role sits within the EMEA Sanctions Advisory pillar. The Sanctions Advisory Team is responsible for a) Sanctions Due Diligence b) Complex Reviews and Regulatory Reporting a) Level 3 Payment Escalations. This role is part of the Complex Reviews and Regulatory Reporting Team.

NUMBER OF DIRECT REPORTS

None

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE ROLE 

The role holder is responsible for driving the implementation of MUFG Bank’s financial crimes risk appetite, policies and standards by providing an approachable sanctions advisory hub to the EMEA region for all sanctions queries, ensuring advice is clear, informative and consistent.

In addition to the duties described above, you will contribute to the work of the GFCD department in any other ways reasonably expected, including participation in projects and working groups and assisting with other priorities in the department or group as a whole. In addition, the role holder will be responsible for:

• Reviewing and interpreting relevant regulations
• Providing subject matter expertise to ensure ongoing compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, internal policies, and the firm’s risk appetite.
• Participating in complex customer and/or transaction reviews to identify potential exposure to sanctioned parties, and assessing the related sanctions control environments used to protect clients’ assets and to mitigate the risk that MUFG might be used to further financial crime
• Collaborating closely with global and regional sanctions colleagues to review higher‑risk or complex cases and ensuring the consistent application of sanctions standards across jurisdictions.
• Effective risk management, and making recommendations for appropriate outcomes
• Drafting, management and oversight of all regulatory reporting
• Participating in regulatory horizon scanning

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Key responsibilities are not limited to but include:

As the role requires strong working knowledge of Japanese, U.S., and EMEA sanctions regimes, including UK regulatory requirements

• Responsible for providing a strong working knowledge of Japanese, U.S., and EMEA sanctions regimes, including UK regulatory requirements
• Responsible and for providing timely and consistent SME sanctions advice to key stakeholders regarding potential complex deals/transactions.
• Responsible for conducting risk assessments on proposed transactions.
• Responsible for undertaking and managing regulatory reporting, as required, to relevant regulators e.g. OFSI and OTSI.
• Responsible for supporting license application requests from stakeholders.
• Responsible for monitoring regulatory developments, including any new issuances of specific or general licenses that may be applicable to MUFG customers.
• Responsible for supporting/attending UK finance working groups.
• Responsible for reviewing and supporting regulatory requests for information.
• Responsible for assisting GFCD in the collection of customer information pertaining to sanctions data.
• Responsible for the management and oversight of frozen/blocked funds

WORK EXPERIENCE

Essential:

• Proven experience in and understanding of Sanctions
• Strong knowledge of and experience in banking
• A good understanding of Banking and Investment products
• Good understanding of financial crime risk in banking
• An excellent understanding of the concepts of risk management and control

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Functional / Technical Competencies:

Core

• MS Office skills
• Demonstrates attention to detail
• A good understanding of Banking and Investment products
• Broad understanding of financial crime risk (AML and ABC) in banking
• A good understanding of the concepts of risk management and control
• Manages priorities effectively and delivers efficiently
• Proactively identifies and communicates improvements to process

Specific to role

• Strong analytical skills
• Strong written communication skills
• Strong financial sanctions knowledge in particular OFAC and EU regulations
• Strong relationship building and management skills

Education / Qualifications:

Preferred:

• Degree
• Relevant Qualification

PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent communication skills
• A proactive, motivated approach.
• Solution oriented and results driven, with a strong sense of accountability
• The ability to operate with urgency and to manage large workloads and tight deadlines
• Strong decision-making skills, the ability to demonstrate sound judgement
• A structured and logical approach to work
• A creative and innovative approach to work
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Works collaboratively with immediate colleagues, other teams in Financial Crime, across GFCD and the Bank and escalates appropriately
• The ability to manage large workloads and tight deadlines
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy
• A calm approach, with the ability to perform well in a pressurised environment

PERFORMANCE AND DUTIES

The role holder will be assessed in accordance with their employing entity’s performance framework and process with relevant input obtained from the dual hatting entity as relevant.

As duties and responsibilities change, the job description will be reviewed and emended in consultation with the role holder. The role holder will carry out other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the role as requested by their line manager or Department Head.

MANAGING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• The role holder will have responsibilities for both MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc.
• The role holder will be required to perform their duties and responsibilities on an entity neutral basis, without favour.
• The role holder is required to follow regulatory requirements applicable to ensure each business is appropriately supported and to maintain the legal entity integrity of each of MUFG Bank and MUS.
• Working terms are dictated by functional mandates, the terms of the Dual-Hat Arrangement Agreement in place between MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc and any other relevant agreements entered into between MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc.
• The role holder will have responsibility for identifying and resolving where there may be a difference or conflict in needs between MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc, escalating to their manager where required.

We are open to considering flexible working requests in line with organisational requirements.

MUFG is committed to embracing diversity and building an inclusive culture where all employees are valued, respected and their opinions count. We support the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion in recruitment and employment, and oppose all forms of discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender reassignment, religion or belief and marriage or civil partnership.

We make our recruitment decisions in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our commitment to identifying the right skills for the right role and our obligations under the law.