Financial Crime Investigator

Provident Financial Group (PFG) is a leading specialist bank for the millions of people in the UK who are not well served by mainstream lenders. As a business, our purpose is to help put people on a path to a better everyday life with our clear and responsible approach to lending; an approach built on over 141 years of experience.

PFG is a unified group made up of three brands: Vanquis Bank (cards and loans), Moneybarn (vehicle finance) and Sunflower (loans). While they all offer different products and services, they each share the common purpose and customer-centric values at the heart of our group. We understand our customers are real people with real and varied life experiences, so everything we do from our products to our customer experience is designed with this in mind.

Sunflower is our newest brand, offering personal loans to people in the mid-cost market. The products provide customers with responsible credit when their finances need a lift. Sunflower gives customers, who may have been turned down or had poor experiences elsewhere, access to flexible credit options by taking the time to understanding their unique situations and finding the right loans for them.

Vanquis was established in 2003, offering a credit card designed to help customers improve their credit score. In 2016, Vanquis introduced personal loans to give customers additional opportunities on their credit-building journeys. Vanquis brings together PFG’s lengthy history in the financial sector with modern money management through its online and app-based accounts.

Moneybarn is the UK’s leading lender of specialist car, van and motorbike finance. They’re experts when it comes to working with customers who have otherwise struggled for credit approval. Moneybarn understands low credit scores don’t change the fact people need reliable vehicles for work, for their families and for better everyday lives. They believe customers should have access to responsibly-approved finance that suits their range of budgets and financial situations.

**Responsibilities**

To investigate potential instances of the firms products and services being used to facilitate financial crime. Escalate and report any suspicious activity on behalf of the Nominated Officer.

Key responsibilities & accountabilities:

- To investigate alerts produced by customer screening and transaction monitoring tools, and referrals of potential financial crime (money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions) received from staff which have been escalated to the Nominated Officer / MLRO. Make recommendations on actions to take, accurately recording outcomes.
- Write suspicious activity reports in line with National Crime Agency guidance for approval by the Nominated Officer / MLRO.
- Support the MLRO with oversight of the end-to-end investigation process by monitoring management information on case timeliness and quality, and escalating issues.
- To act as a Financial Crime SME and ensure processes and procedures covering investigative work are up-to-date, accurate and fit for purpose. Make recommendations on process and system efficiencies.
- Support the development of the financial crime processes associated to new products, ensuring they are thoroughly tested, effective and then embedded
- Identify trends and themes relating to escalations received and keep the MLRO appraised of developments. Keep abreast of regulatory and industry developments in respect of suspicious activity and customer surveillance.
- Support the quality assurance framework by identifying areas for improvement and making recommendations as to how investigations could be enhanced.
- To provide training to new and existing colleagues on the banks systems, processes and controls.

**Expertise**
- Be a capable and reliable financial crime risk / compliance professional who can make valuable contributions to the ongoing development of the financial crime control framework across VBL.
- Understanding of the Proceeds of Crime Act covering SARs and DAML SARs
- The confidence and capability to make decisions as to whether suspicious activity reports are filed with the National Crime Agency in support of the Banks regulatory requirements.
- The capability to review and understand processes and, in turn, document the relevant steps in a succinct and clear manner.
- Demonstrate a high quality, efficient and “can do” service.
- Be analytical, have attention to detail skills and the confidence to challenge the “norm”.
- Strong ability to influence stakeholders and constructively challenge.
- Able to learn from colleagues, develop unique ideas, be proactive and make improvements to process, approach or quality of work being produced.
- A-level or relevant business/professional qualification.

**Working Conditions**
- Hybrid working with 37.5 hours per week (standard hours) based in London, Bradford or Chatham with regular visits to other UK offices

**Why Vanquis? **Our colleagues are the most importa