Company Summary
AZA Finance is an established provider of currency trading and cross-border payment solutions which accelerate global access to frontier markets through an innovative infrastructure. By leveraging cutting-edge technology in our flagship products, AZA Finance significantly lowers the cost and increases the speed of business payments to, from and across frontier markets.
Our digital products provide both wholesale currency purchase and retail settlement via a robust API solution while our Web-Based platform provides over the counter B2B services to organizations with wholesale currency needs. Our partners utilise our hybrid financial infrastructure and deep local knowledge to manage liquidity and send payments to dozens of bank networks, mobile money operators and payments aggregators across Africa.
Licensed by the UK’s FCA and the Bank of Spain, AZA Finance is a market-maker in every major African currency. AZA Finance was founded in 2013 and now has offices in Nairobi, Lagos, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Kampala, Accra, Durban, and Dakar.
Job Summary
We’re looking for an experienced and seasoned Financial Crime and AML Compliance expert with sound experience working for a Global financial institution preferably, to support and drive our financial crime and AML Compliance operations in Uganda and in South Africa. The right candidate should have a sound working knowledge of the remittance and payments landscape, a passion for compliance operations, regulatory reporting and engagement and an enthusiasm for disruptive technology. The right candidate will be a proactive self-starter, that is able to work with culturally diverse teams located globally supporting our clients and businesses in Uganda, South Africa and the UK. Experience filing regulatory reports and engaging with the Bank of Uganda will be an added advantage.
You will play a key role in shaping and delivering the company’s risk appetite, daily compliance operations and controls using system automation and manual review to detect and deter fraud and AML risks within our Compliance programmes in Uganda, South Africa and the UK or elsewhere, as needed.
While maintaining the customer experience and interests as a core objective, you will be responsible for maintaining and ensuring high standards of regulatory and operational compliance, across all compliance operational controls, namely but not limited to, customer due diligence and onboarding (enhanced due diligence), risk assessment, transaction monitoring and surveillance and suspicious activity investigations and reporting. You will seek to advance and protect the reputation of the firm and maintain a good knowledge of latest industry developments in applicable global legal and regulatory requirements, particularly Uganda, UK and South Africa.
We aspire to lead the way in building a world-class compliance offering at the forefront of a technological revolution. If you think you’re hard working, driven and up to the challenge we’d love to hear from you.
- 4+ experience in Compliance operations and Regulatory Reporting or equivalent in a regulated financial services company.
- Experience in defining and implementing effective policies and procedures, including from initiation, if need be.
- UK ICA AML Qualification and/or ACAMs certification (added advantage)
- Understands the needs and dynamics of a start-up and/or fintech environment.
- Must be passionate about Compliance, driving and embedding a strong Compliance culture.
- Demonstrable good stakeholder management experience, confidently and effectively liaising and communicating with internal and external stakeholders., cross-divisionally and at all levels.
- Strong ability to communicate both written and verbally in English and other languages (added bonus).
- Strong understanding of AML/Financial crime risks in the industry in Uganda, UK, South Africa and globally.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
- Strong knowledge of current and prospective regulation that impacts our business.
- Understanding of payments services and remittances
- Been through an authorization process.
- Able to break down and articulate complex Compliance issues into simple, clear language.
- Excellent ability managing projects and prioritizing effectively.
- Proactive and accountable.
- Possess high attention to detail.
- Proactive self-starter, but also able to work well in a team (must be a reliable team player), effectively collaborate with colleagues globally and be able to take and follow instructions from Compliance management.
- Passionate about disruption and changing the status quo.
- Preference for finding automated solutions.
- Product-minded and care about the customer journey/user experience.
- High EQ and able to manage conflict maturely.
Key responsibilities
- Implementing, carrying out and driving the execution of the AZA AML/CTF/Sanctions and Fraud prevention compliance programme particularly supporting our businesses in Uganda, UK and South Africa.
- Following and implementing effective policy, processes and procedures for the selection, risk assessing, onboarding and ongoing monitoring of our customers, merchants and partners, including but not limited to periodic due diligence, RFI processes and audits.
- Carrying out robust customer due diligence processes, including but not limited to onboarding of corporate and institutional customers, following and implementing Enhanced Due Diligence processes and procedures.
- Daily Transaction monitoring and surveillance, carrying out pre and post alert reviews, adhering to set robust processes and within set timelines, in accordance with all relevant Policies, SOPs and SLAs.
- Attending to Reverse due diligence requests, following established processes and procedures and within a set timeline.
- Applying risk assessment procedures to appropriately identify, manage and remediate AML risks in our products, clients and businesses.
- Drafting and implementation of Compliance policies, processes and procedures, particularly in the AML & Financial Crime Compliance programme, ensuring inclusion of country specific law and regulations, as appropriate, including but not limited to annual updates.
- Investigating, documenting and preparing suspicious activity reporting, including but not limited to drafting SAR narrative wording for submission to the FIU, subject to established escalation and sign off by the MLRO.
- Strict adherence to Compliance escalation protocols to senior management without delay and within set timelines.
- Participating in data collection and monthly reporting of Compliance operations metrics and analysis for senior management within set timelines.
- Assisting and participating in internal and external audits, in collaboration with senior compliance management and other colleagues.
- Attending to Data Subject Access requests, including but not limited to Data erasure requests, in accordance with AZA Data Protection and Information Security policies and SOPs, under the direction of the senior Compliance management.
- Assisting and participating in drafting and delivering Compliance training to all staff.
- Completing and maintaining of Compliance trackers, documents and records in a systematic, accurate and thorough manner and filing in accordance with company and compliance policies, procedures and processes.
- Suggesting and implementing, in close cooperation with the senior compliance management, adequate mitigation measures to reduce the AZA’s AML risk exposure
- Regulatory Liaison with the Bank of Uganda and other regulators in Uganda.
- Liaising and coordinating all activities for regulatory reporting to the Bank of Uganda.
- Attending and participating in Compliance meetings internally and externally.
- Collaborating effectively with Legal and Compliance colleagues , all internal stakeholders cross-divisionally and with external stakeholders (e.g. customers, partners, auditors) globally.
- Keeping abreast of legal and regulatory updates globally and specifically in Uganda, UK and South Africa.
- Great career development opportunities in a fast-growing Fintech Company
- Ownership: All team members are empowered to bring ideas and make a difference in a dynamic and casual work environment
- 24 days statutory paid annual leave in addition to local public holidays, plus an extra day off for birthdays and days off for Christmas/New Year break
- Company-funded private medical insurance: dental, medical, and optical services coverage based on your jurisdiction.
- Mentorship & buddy program
- Complimentary breakfast, snacks & drinks
- Team building and happy hours events.
- Employee mental health support
- Employee referral program
