Risk & compliance officer

What does a risk & compliance officer do?

A risk and compliance officer checks that a financial organisation follows the laws and rules that apply to it.

In Singapore, this mostly means rules set by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), plus anti-money laundering and data protection requirements.

The role sits in the second line of defence. You work in a compliance or risk team that reports to a head of compliance or a chief risk officer. Banks, insurers, fund managers, payment firms and brokers all hire for it.

You work with front-office staff, operations, legal, internal audit and senior management. You also deal with regulators when the firm reports an issue or answers a review.

What the work involves

• Review new customer files to confirm identity checks and source-of-funds checks are complete.
• Work through transaction monitoring alerts and decide which to close and which to escalate.
• Read new MAS notices and guidelines, then tell business teams what they must change.
• Test whether staff follow procedures, and record gaps in a log with owners and deadlines.
• Write case notes, reports and short memos for senior compliance staff and committees.
• Answer questions from relationship managers and operations staff on what is allowed.

Pay in Singapore

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Skills a risk & compliance officer needs

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Risk & compliance officer job description

A Singapore financial institution is hiring a risk and compliance officer to help it meet MAS requirements and anti-money laundering duties.

You will review customer files, monitor transactions, advise business teams and report findings to senior compliance staff. The role suits someone who is careful with detail and writes clearly.

Responsibilities

• Carry out customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence reviews on new and existing clients.
• Investigate transaction monitoring alerts and document the reasons for each decision.
• Escalate suspicious activity to the money laundering reporting officer or compliance head.
• Track changes to MAS regulations and notices and assess how they affect the firm.
• Update policies, procedures and checklists so they match current rules.
• Run compliance checks and sample testing, then report the results and follow up on fixes.
• Prepare management reports, regulatory returns and committee papers.
• Give advice and short training sessions to staff on compliance requirements.
• Keep records ready for internal audits and regulatory inspections.
• Support the handling of complaints, breaches and incident reports.

Requirements

• A degree in law, accountancy, business, finance or a related field is common. Some firms accept a diploma with experience.
• Entry roles often ask for 0 to 2 years in compliance, operations, audit or banking. Mid-level roles usually ask for 3 to 5 years.
• Working knowledge of anti-money laundering and know-your-customer practice, and of MAS requirements for your sector.
• Good Excel skills for filtering, matching and summarising large lists of alerts and customer records.
• Clear business writing, because much of the job is notes, reports and advice to non-specialists.
• Professional certificates in compliance, anti-money laundering or risk are often welcome, though some firms don't ask for them.

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Risk & compliance officer career path

Most people start as a compliance executive or analyst and move into officer, manager and head-of-compliance roles.

Progress usually depends on experience across more than one area of compliance.

1. Compliance executive or analyst

   Entry

   You carry out customer reviews, clear alerts and keep records, under close guidance from a senior officer.

2. Compliance officer

   Mid

   You own a set of reviews or monitoring tasks, advise business teams and write reports with little supervision.

3. Senior compliance officer or assistant manager

   Senior

   You handle complex cases, review the work of others and take the lead on regulatory change in your area.

4. Compliance manager

   Lead

   You run a team or a compliance programme, deal with regulators and report to senior management.

5. Head of compliance

   Head

   You set the compliance approach for the whole firm and answer to the board and the regulator.

The titles are ones commonly used in Singapore; employers may name the levels differently.

Related jobs and their pay

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Risk & compliance officer interview questions

We wrote these questions from the skills this job needs. They are not an official question bank.

1. Explain the three stages of money laundering and give an example of each.

   What a good answer covers

   • Names placement, layering and integration correctly.
   • Gives a simple example such as cash deposits, rapid transfers between accounts, and buying property or assets.
   • Links each stage to what a firm can detect, such as unusual cash activity or complex fund flows.
   • Uses everyday language instead of reciting a definition.

2. When would you apply enhanced due diligence instead of standard customer due diligence?

   What a good answer covers

   • Lists higher-risk triggers such as politically exposed persons, complex ownership, high-risk countries or unusual business activity.
   • Describes extra steps: source of wealth, senior approval and closer ongoing monitoring.
   • Explains that the risk rating drives the level of checks.
   • Says the firm's own policy and MAS requirements set the exact rules.

3. A monitoring system produces many alerts and most are false positives. How would you approach this?

   What a good answer covers

   • Reviews alert data to see which rules produce the most false positives.
   • Suggests adjusting thresholds or scenarios after testing them.
   • Keeps a record of why each change was made and who approved it.
   • Checks that loosening the rules does not hide real risk.
   • Reports the pattern to the compliance head or the system owner.

4. What patterns in a customer's account might suggest structuring?

   What a good answer covers

   • Describes repeated deposits or transfers kept just under a reporting or internal threshold.
   • Mentions several small transactions across accounts, branches or related parties.
   • Compares activity with the customer's known profile and business.
   • Says a pattern needs investigation before escalation.

5. How do you keep track of new MAS notices and guidelines, and decide what they mean for your firm?

   What a good answer covers

   • Names a routine, such as checking the MAS website and circulars and subscribing to alerts from industry bodies.
   • Reads the rule and works out which products, teams and processes it touches.
   • Compares it with current policy to find gaps.
   • Sets owners and deadlines for changes and tracks them to completion.
   • Briefs affected staff without jargon.

6. Describe the three lines of defence and where compliance fits.

   What a good answer covers

   • Says the first line is the business that owns and manages risk day to day.
   • Places compliance and risk in the second line, which sets standards and monitors.
   • Places internal audit in the third line, which gives independent assurance.
   • Explains why second-line staff should stay independent from sales targets.

7. You have a spreadsheet of 5,000 alerts and a separate case log. How would you check that every alert has a recorded outcome?

   What a good answer covers

   • Uses a lookup function such as XLOOKUP or INDEX/MATCH on the alert ID.
   • Filters for alerts with no match or a blank outcome.
   • Checks for duplicate IDs and inconsistent formats before matching.
   • Uses a pivot table to summarise outcomes by type or analyst.
   • Works on a copy and keeps the original data as it is.

8. How would you structure a short memo that tells a business team about a new regulatory requirement?

   What a good answer covers

   • Opens with what changes and who is affected.
   • Gives the action required and the deadline.
   • Cites the source rule so readers can check it.
   • Uses little legal jargon and keeps the memo short.
   • Names a contact for questions.

1. A relationship manager wants to onboard a high-value client quickly. The source of wealth is unclear. What do you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Holds the onboarding until the source of wealth is understood and documented.
   • Tells the manager what documents or explanations are needed.
   • Escalates to the compliance head if pressure continues.
   • Records the decision and the reasons.
   • Explains that a delay now costs less than a regulatory breach later.

2. You review an alert on a small trading company that suddenly receives large transfers from several unrelated parties. What are your next steps?

   What a good answer covers

   • Compares the activity with the company's profile and expected turnover.
   • Checks the senders, countries and any links between the parties.
   • Asks the relationship manager for context without revealing that an investigation may follow.
   • Decides whether to close the alert or escalate for a suspicious transaction report.
   • Documents each step and the reasoning.

3. A colleague pastes customer details into ChatGPT to summarise a case file. How do you respond?

   What a good answer covers

   • Explains that customer data should stay out of public AI tools unless the firm has approved them.
   • Points to the firm's data and AI-use policy.
   • Suggests safe uses, such as drafting from anonymised text or explaining a general concept.
   • Reminds the colleague to check AI output against the source.
   • Reports the incident if policy was breached.

1. Tell us about a time you had to say no to a senior person. How did you handle it?

   What a good answer covers

   • Describes a real situation with a clear rule or risk behind the refusal.
   • Stayed calm and explained the reason with facts.
   • Offered an alternative where possible.
   • Describes the outcome honestly, including any friction.

2. Describe a mistake you found in your own work. What did you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Tells the story directly and takes responsibility.
   • Reported it quickly to the right person.
   • Fixed the problem and checked for related errors.
   • Explains what changed in the way you work afterwards.

1. When might a firm file a suspicious transaction report in Singapore, and who receives it?

   What a good answer covers

   • Says a report is made when staff know or have reason to suspect that funds are linked to criminal conduct.
   • Names the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office as the recipient.
   • Explains that staff escalate internally first, usually to a designated reporting officer.
   • Says you must not tip off the customer.
   • Keeps the answer general where the exact legal wording is uncertain.

2. How does the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) affect the way you handle customer information during KYC checks?

   What a good answer covers

   • Says customer data should be collected, used and stored only for stated purposes.
   • Mentions limiting access to staff who need the data and protecting it from leaks.
   • Notes that some laws require financial firms to keep records, and these sit alongside the PDPA.
   • Describes how you would report a suspected data breach internally.
   • Says you would check with the firm's data protection officer if unsure.

Common questions about a risk & compliance officer job

Sources