The 20 Rising Stars of Compliance 2007 - (Page 9) COMPLIANCE SALARIES SIZZLE AS REGULATIONS, PRODUCT RISK BOOST COMP BY MARK MALYSZKO AS REGULATORY DEMANDS put more weight on financial services firms, the job market for compliance officers is getting frothier and compensation is soaring. Compliance is not the only function of a compliance department anymore. It has increasingly become intertwined with other business units and more compliance officers now report directly to senior management. Though the burdens on compliance show no sign of lifting, they also seem to be a boon to salaries. Rule-making such as increasingly tougher anti-money laundering requirements is helping fuel compensation packages, Wall Street recruiters said. Compliance officers with expertise in product risk for specific areas of compliance such as derivatives and with special skills such as a technology, are in high demand, and thus command better pay. SIZZLING COMP Annual compensation packages, including bonuses, for compliance officers will grow 10-25% in the next three years, depending on skill diversity and years of experience, recruiters said. “While pay for all levels of compliance officers will go up, the top levels are where demand is strongest and supply most competitive,” said Michael Lord, principal at recruiting firm Michael Lord & Co. in New York. Based on the compliance officer placeSEPTEMBER 2007 ments recruiters have been making, they peg current top salary and bonus packages for the most experienced compliance officers at $200,000-500,000 at broker-dealers and investment management firms. This is up 10-20% over the last two years. Junior level compliance officers can start at $40,000 and up, which is generally in-line with where they have been starting over the last two years. Some firms are cautious about raising salaries for mid-level and junior posts, Lord noted. The most junior level compliance officers will see the lowest percentage increase because that is where firms can still keep some compliance salaries down, he added. SPECIALIZATIONS AML Recruiters and compliance officers point to anti-money laundering [AML] compliance as a top driver in salary growth. It is also driving up demand for compliance officers with a retail background and those comfortable with technology. “AML is complicated because there are so many different rules and regulators,” said Henry Carter, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Global Crown Capital in San Francisco. So Wall Street firms are looking for a blended background, said Daniel Solo, senior account manager and compliance recruiter at The Response Cos. This includes AML expertise but also an emphasis on retail, versus capital markets, for example, Solo said. Firms often see AML as retail-oriented compliance. AML is intensely customeroriented, whereas institutional compliance on the capital markets side is more transaction-focused. As a result, it is viewed as more challenging because COMPLIANCE RISING STARS 9 MICHAEL LORD, principal Michael Lord & Co. “ While pay for all levels of compliance officers will go up, the top levels are where demand is strongest and supply most competitive.” These packages are offered to compliance officers with about a minimum 10 years of experience and are on the higher range where particular experience is most relevant. Mid-level compliance officers, who can have as little as two years experience but usually need to have five to 10 years, can now earn $80,000 to $175,000 in total pay, which is up 10-20% over the last two years, recruiters said.
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