Is Anti Money Laundering / KYC analyst a good career path?

Unless you were to publicly advertise it, due to the fact that banks and other financial institutions can't tip off those they suspect of ML, it's not like your identity is out there. It's mainly a preventative function, sifting through a lot of leads driven by big data. It's a good space to go into, and there's lots of progression opportunities. That said, more senior positions in it involve a lot of responsibility, which some say is not commensurate to how much they earn, and most positions favour existing knowledge whether you have a qualification or not. There are entry level positions which crop up from time to time, so keep an eye open - sometimes KYC remediation projects will consider training up candidates. Look into ICA or ACAMS qualifications. An advanced certificate is a good way to get a foothold in the area.

Thank you. Do you have any idea on the starting salary? It's not posted on any of the jobs that i have seen. Also is there a difference between a KYC analyst and Compliance?

It depends on the type of role, really. Expect around £17-18k for true entry level banking roles, even within those areas. I've seen roles though with e.g. HSBC that go up to £30k, for example for Triage analysts (which would be the team making a decision on which team to refer it to), however they ordinarily are targeted at individuals with some banking experience, even if they're "entry level" in terms of a FC position.

Compliance is more to do with the bank meeting its regulatory obligations and can vary at a basic level from answering policy questions from other departments (e.g are we allowed to market a product with this language, etc.), to senior positions determining bank risk appetite and policy, which are extremely well compensated; for those, I would recommend getting an FCA, PRA, HMRC, BoE, Big Four or similar internship or graduate position, because that sort of experience is invaluable in this area. It's quite a different area in practice, because financial crime roles are focused on detecting and preventing financial crime, whereas compliance is more to do with the bank meeting regulatory requirements across its operations. It's an operational vs a strategic function, if that makes sense.

KYC is focused on obtaining information about the customer and establishing the basis for the relationship with the bank and so on. There's other specialised functions, like bribery and corruption, AML, counter-terrorism and fraud - of those, I'd say you have the best chances with anti-fraud and KYC for entry level. I've been advised that in terms of pursuing qualifications, recruiters tend to value the advanced ICA certificates more than the basic ones (albeit I'd try see if you can find an employer willing to fund it first), and if you choose to go into the area, the AML one is a particularly in-depth qualification, also covering elements of KYC/CDD. You can follow that up with some data analytics qualifications, which will make you even more valuable to a bank, because of the growing need to be able to scrutinise and analyse a very large number of transactions, and that will give you more versatility in terms of the types of roles you can get and later move into.

Okay thank you. Is KYC / AML a profession that can be done for a long period of time (i.e is it something that i can do until i'm 60 and then retire?) I have experience as an economist and I am also adept at data analysis.

I currently work in government but i have always been interested in financial services and banking. The AML jobs such as these ones below essentially look into knowing your customer's and preventing money laundering. Is this a good career path and will i be threatened / murdered by people who don't want me to stop them from laundering money?https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1909844488/?refId=2a847500-f09d-4155-b17e-872a2dca7cf4&trk=flagship3_job_home_savedjobshttps://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1910117654/?refId=2a847500-f09d-4155-b17e-872a2dca7cf4&trk=flagship3_job_home_savedjobshttps://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1909811288/?refId=2a847500-f09d-4155-b17e-872a2dca7cf4&trk=flagship3_job_home_savedjobs

If it is job security that you are after AND you want to work in a banking environment I would say that there are few safer options.

So in other words, I can do it until i'm 60 and its a safe career path, correct? Is that what you are saying?