[looking@HK]

Hello,

I am in the interview process with an IB for a compliance position. Everything seems good so far and I have been warned by them that their interview process is typically very long. They get candidates to interview with several different areas.

Specifics: Bank - top tier US
Position: Junior compliance position (2-3 years experience)
Me: US educated US based lawyer looking to move. Post qualification (JD) experience is 1 year. But total compliance experience is 6 years.

Questions:
What should I expect in terms of the interview process, salary expectations etc. At some point, I may have to decide to let go of this in order to take another potential offer. So the salary question regarding a compliance position with an IB .. potential bonus etc. is important.

If you guys could share your thoughts, it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[howard_roark]

Originally Posted by looking@HK

Hello,

I am in the interview process with an IB for a compliance position. Everything seems good so far and I have been warned by them that their interview process is typically very long. They get candidates to interview with several different areas.

Specifics: Bank - top tier US
Position: Junior compliance position (2-3 years experience)
Me: US educated US based lawyer looking to move. Post qualification (JD) experience is 1 year. But total compliance experience is 6 years.

Questions:
What should I expect in terms of the interview process, salary expectations etc. At some point, I may have to decide to let go of this in order to take another potential offer. So the salary question regarding a compliance position with an IB .. potential bonus etc. is important.

If you guys could share your thoughts, it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Looking -


Few Q's before I can give some relevant insights -

Are you from top 5 law school?

How many rounds of interview have you finished - with whom you had the last round (level of the person)?

I read that you have already graduated - any specifics of your current job and comp range?

I believe this will be an expat position - is this going to be few years assignment or long term - are you single - any expected comp coverage for your home back in US? Trying to understand your perks.

If you want confidentiality then please feel free to PM me. In my view - at this stage in your career, you won't make a bad choice with any of your options anyways.

good luck.

[looking@HK]

Originally Posted by howard_roark

Looking -

Thanks for your response. I am adding my answers.

Few Q's before I can give some relevant insights -

Are you from top 5 law school?
NO

How many rounds of interview have you finished - with whom you had the last round (level of the person)?
I skipped the formal process and have heard that I missed some initial rounds. Got in the door through networking. I interviewed with 3 officers (vice presidents) in the Compliance area.

I read that you have already graduated - any specifics of your current job and comp range?
Current job is with the state government regulating industry/companies. Accordingly, compensation is not worth mentioning But great experience

I believe this will be an expat position - is this going to be few years assignment or long term - are you single - any expected comp coverage for your home back in US? Trying to understand your perks.

I hope it is an expat position. But have no details so far.

If you want confidentiality then please feel free to PM me. In my view - at this stage in your career, you won't make a bad choice with any of your options anyways.

good luck.

Thanks! Some of the other leads I have are junior level in-house positions in the financial services industry (but not IBs). I hope you can provide some sort of reference point on typical compensation-bonus. At some point in the next month or so, I expect some leads to take off faster than others. I will have to make a call on whether to wait for this IB to come around. They are also helping my spouse network within the IB (job search) (spouse is not in the legal field but is a pretty senior level professional).

Thanks in advance!!!

[looking@HK]

Please provide some advise if possible. I am hoping to be one of you guys soon ... one that can actually share some information. So please provide input. I understand that a lot of folks may be out due to CNY.

Thanks!!

[freeier]

your questions are too vague. and it varies from banks to banks.
depending on the time of the year, the schedule of everyone.. depends on what kind of compliance job u are doing..etc.etc.

[howard_roark]

Based on your info - I can not assure you the level of precision that will make me comfortable - so please take it with grain of salt.

You should aim for @ HK$1M base pay +/-15%; and perks (housing allowance, tax equalization, home visits etc etc) + bonus (will depend upon your exact bank). Again my guidance is just an estimate & unless I know the specific bank and your exact group and work details - I can not be accurate.

Your current experience could be highly valuable to a US based position if you can stay back for one or two years more. But not sure about its relevancy for HK based position. Also in my opinion before they extend you an offer, you may have to go through few rounds of interviews with the HK group.

[looking@HK]

Thanks to you both for your responses.

Originally Posted by freeier

your questions are too vague. and it varies from banks to banks.
depending on the time of the year, the schedule of everyone.. depends on what kind of compliance job u are doing..etc.etc.

I can understand that it is difficult to provide input with specific details. I cannot name the bank. About the position: managing communications between the different areas of the IB, preserving confidentiality, communications during pending deals and so forth. Perhaps you could provide a more general opinion on junior level compliance salaries with an IB compared to a junior level in-house position elsewhere.

Thanks for your time.

[looking@HK]

Originally Posted by howard_roark

Based on your info - I can not assure you the level of precision that will make me comfortable - so please take it with grain of salt.

You should aim for @ HK$1M base pay +/-15%; and perks (housing allowance, tax equalization, home visits etc etc) + bonus (will depend upon your exact bank). Again my guidance is just an estimate & unless I know the specific bank and your exact group and work details - I can not be accurate.

Your current experience could be highly valuable to a US based position if you can stay back for one or two years more. But not sure about its relevancy for HK based position. Also in my opinion before they extend you an offer, you may have to go through few rounds of interviews with the HK group.

Thanks for your response. Appreciated!!

A little more about this position: managing communications between the different areas of the IB, preserving confidentiality, communications during pending deals, dealing with regulators and so forth.

Regarding the compensation range: this is what I had in mind. Let's hope for the best. I understand the additional rounds of interview which translates into additional waiting time. Thus the question on junior level compliance salaries with an IB compared to a junior level in-house position elsewhere. How do junior level in-house counsel positions with a financial conglomerate (banking, insurance, asset management) compare with a junior compliance position with an IB in terms of compensation (salary, bonus etc). Let's assume the in-house position focuses on mergers and acquisitions and other financial transactions.

I understand that the difference: one is an in-house position while one is compliance. But I have heard and read SO MUCH about IB compensation that I want to figure out how a compliance role with them would compare with an in-house role. Especially since the in-house offer may come before the IB offer and I cannot wait to learn from the IB. I need to learn from you all!!

I realize that my current experience could be highly valuable to a US based position. It does provide me with experience in issues affecting the financial services/IB industry but on the face of it, it does not look like "portable" experience. So I am leaning away from investing any additional time here. Looking for more international experience.

I realize that this is a general discussion forum and not a legal one. But I seem to get better responses here than I get on other sites such as vault.com.

Thank you all for reading. Special thanks for the responses Keep them coming if possible.

[freeier]

if its me i'd go for the inhouse position. u have opportunity to see more things and move towards front office roles. compliance are good paying jobs but some feels they'd get stuck in the job ....

[beachball]

Originally Posted by freeier

if its me i'd go for the inhouse position. u have opportunity to see more things and move towards front office roles. compliance are good paying jobs but some feels they'd get stuck in the job ....

I agree with that, in-house role has a lot more upside. Probably biased (am in IB front office ), but at least you would be doing something akin to 'practicing' (i.e., using your legal skills) and you would be involved in real transactions.
Don't really see what compliance has to offer, aside from providing a comfortable lifestyle and an above average salary and complete job security doing glorified admin work. If you are content with that great, but your career options would be much more limited ? main prospect would be to move up in compliance.