Head of Business Risk Management and Compliance
UOB · Bangkok, Thailand · 6h ago
About UOB
United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) is a leading bank in ASEAN with a global network in Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. Operating through our head office in Singapore and banking subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, we have a global network of about 430 branches and offices in 19 markets. At the heart of UOB is our culture, shaped by the UOB Way and anchored on our four values – Honourable, Enterprising, United and Committed. For more than 90 years, these values have guided how we do right by our customers, collaborate with one another and create long-term value for the communities we operate in. As One Bank, we are committed to helping our colleagues build sustainable careers grounded in purpose, supported by strong values, and enriched with meaningful opportunities to grow.
Job Description
Head of Business Risk Management and Compliance for Wholesale Banking is responsible for leading the Business Risk and Control Management function covering Anti-Money Laundering, Fraud, and Emerging Risk. The role provides independent first-line advisory, assurance, and operationalization oversight to ensure financial crime risks are identified, assessed, managed, and mitigated through effective and sustainable controls.
The role serves as a key bridge between the Business, AFC Operations, Legal & Compliance, Group Wholesale Bank, and other control functions. It translates regulatory, policy, and Group requirements into practical business controls and oversees their implementation and effectiveness.
The role leads three core capabilities:
AFC Advisory
- Lead advisory support on the interpretation and application of AML/CFT, Fraud, and Emerging Risk regulations, policies, standards, and material risk developments.
- Conduct structured impact and gap assessments across affected products, customer segments, channels, processes, systems, documentation, and controls.
- Provide risk-based advice and constructive challenges on complex customer matters, process exceptions, business proposals, control requirements, and other material AFC risks.
- Partner with Business, AFC Operations, Legal & Compliance, Group Wholesale Banking, and other control functions to design practical and sustainable controls and remediation measures.
- Coordinate policy deviations, deferments, and exceptions, ensuring that risk exposures, justifications, compensating controls, approvals, and implementation commitments are appropriately documented and governed.
- Lead investigations and root-cause analysis of significant control gaps, incidents, or adverse trends, and escalate unresolved or material risks for management and governance decisions.
AFC Assurance
- Own and maintain the AFC Assurance Framework, annual assurance plan, risk-based methodology, sampling approach, testing criteria, rating standards, and escalation protocols.
- Lead periodic, continuous, and thematic assurance across key AML, Fraud, and Emerging Risk processes, focusing on control design, operating effectiveness, execution quality, timeliness, approvals, and regulatory compliance.
- Ensure assurance coverage responds to changes in risk exposure and includes relevant customer lifecycle, Source of Wealth, post-STR, screening, sanctions, fraud, high-risk customer, and newly implemented control processes.
- Develop data-driven surveillance and continuous monitoring to identify exceptions, recurring errors, control weaknesses, emerging risks, and adverse trends across full or risk-prioritized populations.
- Ensure assurance findings clearly articulate the underlying risk, control weakness, root cause, potential impact, and required corrective action, with material matters escalated to the appropriate governance forums.
- Maintain oversight of findings and remediation through validated closure, supported by dashboards and management reporting on control effectiveness, recurring issues, risk trends, and remediation progress.
AFC Operationalization
- Lead the operationalization of new or revised AML, Fraud, and Emerging Risk requirements by translating them into clear processes, controls, workflows, decision criteria, system requirements, and accountabilities.
- Establish structured implementation plans covering deliverables, ownership, dependencies, milestones, operational-readiness risks, escalation requirements, and target completion dates.
- Partner with the Business, AFC Operations, Compliance, PMO, and Group stakeholders to implement practical solutions and resolve cross-functional dependencies or system and data limitations.
- Ensure SOPs, procedures, process maps, guidance, templates, and operational controls are updated and that requirements are substantively embedded into business-as-usual execution.
- Lead or provide BRCM oversight for material AFC transformation, remediation, and control-uplift initiatives, promoting automation, analytics, and smart controls where appropriate.
- Monitor implementation through governance reporting, issue and milestone tracking, and post-implementation assurance to confirm that enhanced controls operate as intended and identified risks are sustainably mitigated.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Law, Compliance, Risk Management, Finance, Business Administration, Accounting, or a related discipline. Relevant professional certification is advantageous.
- Significant experience in AML/CFT, Fraud Risk Management, Emerging Risk, BRCM, Compliance, Assurance, Audit, AFC Operations, or related financial crime control functions within financial services.
- Demonstrated leadership experience across advisory, risk-based assurance, control design, operationalization, remediation, and complex financial crime transformation initiatives.
- Strong analytical, judgment, and stakeholder-management capabilities, with the ability to interpret regulatory requirements, identify root causes, provide independent challenge, and translate complex risks into practical and sustainable controls.
- Proven people-leadership and communication skills, with the ability to develop specialist teams and communicate material risk and control matters clearly to senior management and governance forums.
- Exposure to wholesale banking, Operations & Technology, Compliance areas is an added advantage thought not a pre-requisite for the right candidate.
Remark: The Bank requires the checking and collection of criminal records for candidates of this position in order to verify qualifications and/or disqualifications for the job position in accordance with the Bank’s policy.
Additional Requirements
Be a Part of the UOB Family
UOB is an equal opportunity employer. UOB does not discriminate on the basis of a candidate's age, race, gender, color, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or other non-merit factors. All employment decisions at UOB are based on business needs, job requirements and qualifications. If you require any assistance or accommodations to be made for the recruitment process, please inform us when you submit your online application.
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