Division - Enforcement and Market Oversight
Department – Retail & Regulatory Investigations and Wholesale, Unauthorised Business and Investigations
Salary - Regulatory London £34,700 - £37,000, National £31,600 - £35,000
About The FCA
The FCA regulates the conduct of 45,000 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. Follow this link to find out more About the FCA.
The division
The FCA’s Enforcement and Market Oversight (EMO) is recruiting permanent and FTC Regulatory Investigators - Level 9 Associate. There are currently vacancies in the Retail and Regulatory Directorate and further vacancies may arise in the Wholesale and Unauthorised Business Directorate.
EMO investigates and brings regulatory, disciplinary and civil cases, together with criminal prosecutions on behalf of the FCA against firms and individuals, aimed at achieving impactful deterrence by changing behaviour in the financial services industry, in accordance with the FCA’s objectives. It plays a key role in the work of the whole organisation to reduce financial crime and ensure adherence to regulatory requirements.
These are critical times for the financial markets, and we are continually presented with challenging and intellectually stimulating cases. Our cases attract large scale media attention and help to shape the future for the regulation of firms and markets, and the protection of investors and consumers. Our work covers a diverse range of criminal and regulatory issues including fraudulent conduct, systems and control failures, corporate governance and product mis-selling.
Working at the FCA is a great career option if you have a strong sense of public duty and are motivated to do the right thing and make a positive difference to the lives of consumers and the UK financial market generally.
Retail and Regulatory Investigations (RRI)
RRI investigates potential misconduct by regulated firms, and individuals working within those firms, involved in retail banking, stockbroking, asset management, mortgage broking and lending, insurance intermediation, financial advice, consumer credit, payment services and crypto assets. We take action against firms that sell unsuitable products or services to consumers, mishandle client money and assets, or have governance and systemic issues. We also investigate financial crime matters including fraud and misconduct related to AML systems and controls.
Wholesale
The Wholesale department ensures that suspected wrongdoing in the wholesale financial markets is investigated and where serious misconduct by firms and/or individuals is identified they are held to account. Our investigation teams undertake criminal, civil, and regulatory investigations spanning insider dealing, market manipulation, misleading statements by listed companies and systems and controls failings.
Unauthorised Business Department (UBD)
UBD investigates firms that are not authorised by the FCA but are carrying out activities that require authorisation. Unauthorised firms pose a significant risk to consumers – UBD has civil and criminal powers to tackle these firms and protect consumers. UBD cases typically involve high-loss investment/Ponzi type frauds, illegal trading schemes and boiler room operations.
What will you be doing?
Investigation & Litigation Support Associates are key members of our case teams and play a vital role throughout the wider department.
As a Support Associate, you are responsible for the overall administration of our case work, your core tasks are:
- Managing the uploading of material onto document management systems and ensuring compliance with document management protocols
- Conducting general administrative tasks relating to investigations.
- Reviewing and the categorisation of evidence
- Drafting documents (including correspondence, memoranda, reports and minutes of internal and external meetings), proof reading, preparation of bundles for interviews with witnesses and subjects, for disclosure and for court and tribunal proceedings
- Document and project management records and tasks, including recording key case decisions, carrying out intelligence checks, company house searches and other research
- Communicating effectively with team members about the progress of tasks
There is also scope for the post holder to assist with investigative tasks (e.g. interviewing and preparing witness statements) as required subject to skills and experience or, subject to core tasks being completed, as part of meeting developmental needs under the supervision of experienced investigators.
What will you get from the role?
- The chance to work on a range of high-profile cases of public importance as part of multi-disciplinary teams investigating and tackling serious financial services matters
- The role entails working as part of case teams comprising of experienced financial investigators and lawyers, so it provides a great opportunity to develop the skills and experience required for career progression towards becoming an investigator
- A varied and interesting workload, dealing with a wide range of people both across the FCA and externally
- The chance to greatly enhance your existing skills and to develop your knowledge through on-going learning and development training
If you are successful, we will set you up for success. Your manager will work with you to help you meet your career goals. In your first six months you will attend a three-week investigators foundation course which will ensure you can learn and apply a skill set safely in the context of the FCA’s approach to investigations.
Which skills are required?
We are a Disability Confident Employer; therefore, disabled people or individuals with long-term conditions who best meet the minimum criteria for a role will go through to the next stage of the recruitment process. (To learn more about the Disability Confident Scheme Click Here).
Minimum
- Excellent organisational and administrative skills
- Experience of document, information or evidence management
- Good written and oral communication skills (i.e. communicating with internal and external stakeholders) with the ability to summarise issues in a comprehensive and concise manner
Essential
- Work proficiently with Microsoft Office applications including Excel and Word applications
- Maintain standards and focus on the overall objective across multiple projects, paying close attention to detail
- Work collaboratively and inclusively with colleagues of different perspectives and backgrounds
- Classify and organise information in a comprehensible manner.
- Work on own initiative, prioritising, working under pressure and to tight deadlines whilst maintaining accuracy
- Be open to learning, challenge and change, and be prepared to be flexible to take on new tasks and responsibilities
Our Values & Diversity
We are proud to be an inclusive employer and our ambition is to cultivate a culture 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.
Within the workplace you will have access to various employee resource groups which aim to promote and achieve a healthy work / life balance and support our diversity ambitions.
Did you know? 50% of our Executive Committee were the first in their family to attend university.
The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of the organisation. Given this, we particularly welcome applications from men, minority ethnic, disabled, and neurodivergent candidates for our Associate role.
Benefits Of Working At The FCA
- 25 days holiday per year plus bank holidays
- Hybrid working (work from home up to 60% of your time)
- Private healthcare with Bupa
- A non-contributory Pension of at least 8%
- Life assurance
- Income protection
We also have a competitive flexible benefits scheme which gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifestyle.
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 can explore what might work best for both sides.
Follow this link to see what life is like at the FCA - Life at the FCA
Application Support
We are dedicated to removing barriers and ensuring our application process is accessible to everyone. We offer a range of adjustments to make your application experience as comfortable and straightforward as possible.
If you have an accessibility need, disability, or condition requiring changes to the recruitment process, please contact your recruiter using the details below and they will be happy to discuss this further with you.
