Sanction Screening Senior Associate

About the role

Responsible for identifying and preventing financial transactions that may be related to money laundering, terrorist financing, or other financial crimes. This may include conducting investigations into potential transactions, reviewing and analyzing financial data, and collaborating with other departments to identify and prevent financial crimes.

Key responsibilities

• Perform sanctions, PEP, adverse media and internal watchlist screening for customer onboarding, periodic review and ongoing screening
• Review and investigate screening alerts to determine true matches, false positives and potential regulatory concerns
• Escalate confirmed or potential sanctions, PEP and adverse media matches in accordance with the Bank's escalation procedures
• Perform Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) arising from sanctions, PEP or adverse media screening where required
• Maintain complete and accurate case documentation to support screening decisions and audit requirements
• Ensure all screening activities are completed within established service level agreements (SLAs)
• Support periodic review and quality assurance of screening decisions to ensure consistency and compliance with internal procedures
• Identify screening process improvements and recommend enhancements to improve efficiency and reduce false positives
• Liaise with internal stakeholders including Operations, Product, Technology, Legal and Compliance to resolve screening-related issues
• Keep abreast of regulatory developments relating to sanctions, AML/CFT, PEP and adverse media requirements

About you

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Law, Criminology or a related discipline
• Minimum 3–5 years of experience in AML/CFT Compliance, Sanctions Screening, Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD), Name Screening or Financial Crime Compliance within the banking or financial services industry
• Good understanding of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA 2001), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) AML/CFT/CPF & TFS Policy Documents, FATF Recommendations, sanctions regulations and the risk-based approach to AML/CFT
• Strong knowledge of sanctions screening, Politically Exposed Person (PEP) screening, adverse media screening, internal watchlist screening, Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) and financial crime investigations
• Strong analytical, investigative and critical thinking skills with the ability to assess potential sanctions, PEP and adverse media matches and distinguish true matches from false positives
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare concise investigation reports and clearly document screening decisions
• Strong organisational and time management skills with the ability to manage multiple screening alerts while meeting established service level agreements (SLAs)
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• High level of integrity, professionalism and sound judgement when handling confidential customer information and regulatory screening matters
• Proactive, detail-oriented and committed to continuous learning, keeping abreast of regulatory developments, sanctions updates, emerging financial crime typologies and industry best practices