Accredited Financial Investigator

at  Financial Conduct Authority

Enforcement & Market Oversight - Accredited Financial Investigator, Proceeds of Crime Team
Salary: National ranging from £41,800 - £52,200 and London from £46,000 to £57,400
The team / department

The Proceeds of Crime Team is made up of Financial Intelligence Officers, Accredited Financial Investigators and professional business support and provides a dedicated specialist team with the expertise to help the FCA meet its proceeds of crime investigative responsibilities. This forms part of our credible deterrence agenda, around prosecution of criminal offences linked to our statutory objectives and remit within the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000 and Financial Services Act 2012.

• Investigate, identify, restrain and confiscate the proceeds of criminal behaviours, seeking to remove these from convicted individuals
• Compensate victims wherever possible
• Use enforcement powers available to us to ensure confiscation orders are satisfied
• Use civil powers under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and associated legislation to identify and forfeit recoverable property
• Undertake criminal investigations into money laundering offences under Part 7 POCA

What you will be doing (the role)

• Responsibility for undertaking confiscation investigations running parallel to criminal investigations conducted by our Enforcement colleagues, typically, but not exclusively in connection with individuals suspected of insider dealing and/or unauthorised activities, using investigative powers as necessary and appropriate.
• Analysing, presenting and evidencing financial data to trace / show the extent and whereabouts of criminal benefit and realisable property, tracing assets in foreign jurisdictions
• Drafting witness statements for Restraint Orders under section 41 POCA, policing those orders once obtained and drafting Statements of Information under section 16 POCA for confiscation proceedings or to apply for recovery orders in civil cases, supporting FCA counsel in proceedings, giving evidence in the Crown Court, High Court or Magistrates’ Court where appropriate

What you will get from the role

• Support Lead Associate colleagues or the Team Manager in attending and participating in a broad range of project work within the FCA or alongside wider law enforcement agencies (LEA) partner agencies, the private sector and practitioner level working groups, building on existing contacts in the financial investigation arena and maintaining internal and external relationships to benefit the work, including undertaking recruitment campaigns for new staff
• You will work as a member of a team supporting the effective delivery of the different investigations under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, as well as wider projects

Our competitive flexible benefits scheme gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifestyle. You can use this allowance to purchase additional benefits such as dental or cycle to work or you have the option top up your base salary by taking this as cash.

Core benefits that you will receive as standard are:

• 25 days holiday per year plus bank holidays
• Private healthcare with Bupa
• A non-contributory Pension of at least 8% of basic salary each month (there are several contribution levels that increase depending on your age – up to 12% a month once you reach age 35)
• Life assurance of eight times your basic salary
• Income protection

We support hybrid working which means you will be able to work from home up to 60% of the time over a month with the remainder of your time in one of our two office locations.
The skills and experience you will have
Minimum

We are a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that we will offer an interview to disabled candidates entering under the scheme, who best meet the minimum criteria for a role.

• Currently accredited as a Financial Investigator and Confiscator by the Proceeds of Crime Centre (NCA) with Part 2 and Part 8 powers (minimum) with a proven track record in managing and undertaking your own confiscation investigations in accordance with POCA, or have, within the last two years, been accredited as a Financial Investigator and Confiscator by the Proceeds of Crime Centre (NCA) with Part 2 and Part 8 powers (minimum) with demonstrable experience in undertaking your own confiscation investigations in accordance with POCA and have voluntarily suspended your accreditation
• Experience of NIM level 3 investigations involving proceeds of crime and criminal cases, including setting investigative strategy and reporting to stakeholders on progress
• Current or recent experience of using a range of tools to further financial investigations including MLAT, DPA, RIPA / IPA, PACE, CPIA legislation in addition to an understanding of different areas of jurisprudence: trust, contract, property, crime, company, insolvency and associated secondary legislation such as the Criminal and Civil Procedure Rules

Essential

• Sound knowledge of Serious Crime Act 2015 and Criminal Finances Act 2017, Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2024 and their impact on POC work
• Experienced in the use of mainstream financial intelligence tools (e.g. Moneyweb, ARENA and consumer credit databases)
• Use of Altia software or similar tools to analyse data and manage disparate unstructured financial information
• The willingness to exercise your own judgement and initiative and be prepared to make and justify recommendations to Team management, demonstrable analytical and investigative skills, evidence of successfully communicating complex matters in both written and verbal format whilst maintaining a “can-do” attitude, the ability to work under pressure and meet challenging deadlines

About the FCA
The FCA regulates the conduct of nearly 45,000 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. We do this to make sure markets work well for individuals, businesses and the economy as a whole. For more information on what we do, our three-year strategy can be found
here.
The FCA’s Values & Diversity
Our ambition is to cultivate a culture of inclusion for all employees that respects their individual strengths, views, and experiences. We believe that our differences and similarities enable us to be a better organisation – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation, and delivers better regulation.
The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of the organisations. Given this, we particularly welcome applications from women, disabled and minority ethnic candidates for our Associate role.
Flexible working
We welcome applications from candidates who are looking for flexible arrangements. Many of our staff work flexibly including working part-time, staggered hours, and job shares. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want but we won’t judge you for asking.
Multi-location
As part of the FCA’s on-going commitment to develop our national presence, most of our vacancies are now open to working in our Leeds, or London offices. This means that as part of the application process you will be able to select your preference of which office location you would like to work from.

Useful information

• Applications for this role close at 23:59 on the 24th September 2024
• This role is graded as Associate - Regulatory
• The role will necessitate some travel in the UK with a potential requirement to stay overnight on occasions

Got a question?
If you are interested in learning more about the role please contact:
For internal applicants, please contact Michael Wood,
michael.wood@fca.org.uk
For external applicants, please contact Asha Gladis,
asha.gladis@fca.org.uk
What to expect from our interview process
This will involve a 2 stage process, case study and a technical and competency based interview.
Application support
We want to remove any possible barriers and are committed to providing a wide range of reasonable adjustments so that you can keep the focus on your conversations and be at your best.
If you have an accessibility requirement, disability, or condition that means you might require changes to the recruitment process, please contact your recruiter to discuss this further. Our aim is to make your application as easy and comfortable as possible, and your recruiter will be happy to work with you to make any necessary arrangements where possible.
Security Clearance/Vetting
The successful candidate will hold or will be required to obtain Security Clearance (SC) level vetting.
Please note that all applications must be submitted through our online portal, applications sent via email will not be accepted

The Proceeds of Crime Team is made up of Financial Intelligence Officers, Accredited Financial Investigators and professional business support and provides a dedicated specialist team with the expertise to help the FCA meet its proceeds of crime investigative responsibilities. This forms part of our credible deterrence agenda, around prosecution of criminal offences linked to our statutory objectives and remit within the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000 and Financial Services Act 2012.

• Investigate, identify, restrain and confiscate the proceeds of criminal behaviours, seeking to remove these from convicted individuals
• Compensate victims wherever possible
• Use enforcement powers available to us to ensure confiscation orders are satisfied
• Use civil powers under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and associated legislation to identify and forfeit recoverable property
• Undertake criminal investigations into money laundering offences under Part 7 POC

What you will be doing (the role)

• Responsibility for undertaking confiscation investigations running parallel to criminal investigations conducted by our Enforcement colleagues, typically, but not exclusively in connection with individuals suspected of insider dealing and/or unauthorised activities, using investigative powers as necessary and appropriate.
• Analysing, presenting and evidencing financial data to trace / show the extent and whereabouts of criminal benefit and realisable property, tracing assets in foreign jurisdictions
• Drafting witness statements for Restraint Orders under section 41 POCA, policing those orders once obtained and drafting Statements of Information under section 16 POCA for confiscation proceedings or to apply for recovery orders in civil cases, supporting FCA counsel in proceedings, giving evidence in the Crown Court, High Court or Magistrates’ Court where appropriat

What you will get from the role

• Support Lead Associate colleagues or the Team Manager in attending and participating in a broad range of project work within the FCA or alongside wider law enforcement agencies (LEA) partner agencies, the private sector and practitioner level working groups, building on existing contacts in the financial investigation arena and maintaining internal and external relationships to benefit the work, including undertaking recruitment campaigns for new staff
• You will work as a member of a team supporting the effective delivery of the different investigations under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, as well as wider project

We are a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that we will offer an interview to disabled candidates entering under the scheme, who best meet the minimum criteria for a role.

• Currently accredited as a Financial Investigator and Confiscator by the Proceeds of Crime Centre (NCA) with Part 2 and Part 8 powers (minimum) with a proven track record in managing and undertaking your own confiscation investigations in accordance with POCA, or have, within the last two years, been accredited as a Financial Investigator and Confiscator by the Proceeds of Crime Centre (NCA) with Part 2 and Part 8 powers (minimum) with demonstrable experience in undertaking your own confiscation investigations in accordance with POCA and have voluntarily suspended your accreditation
• Experience of NIM level 3 investigations involving proceeds of crime and criminal cases, including setting investigative strategy and reporting to stakeholders on progress
• Current or recent experience of using a range of tools to further financial investigations including MLAT, DPA, RIPA / IPA, PACE, CPIA legislation in addition to an understanding of different areas of jurisprudence: trust, contract, property, crime, company, insolvency and associated secondary legislation such as the Criminal and Civil Procedure Rule