Accredited Financial Investigator, Proceeds of Crime Team

Salary: London from £56,400 to £70,400 and Leeds £51,200 to £64,000 (pay offered will be based on knowledge and experience demonstrated through the recruitment process)

Are you interested in joining a team that helps the FCA to meet its proceeds of crime investigative responsibilities?

The team/ department

The Proceeds of Crime Team (POC), made up of Financial Intelligence Officers (FIO's), Accredited Financial Investigators (AFI's) and professional business support 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.

We provide dedicated financial investigation resource to:

• 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 (POCA) 2002 and associated legislation to identify and forfeit recoverable property

• Undertake criminal investigations into money laundering offences under Part 7 POCA

Our Proceeds of Crime Team are now recruiting for a Senior Associate on a permanent basis.

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. You will work flexibly across different cases and projects, mentoring and coaching within a small team of Accredited Financial Investigators / Financial Intelligence Officers as well as supporting the delivery of project strategy and outcomes.

What you will be doing (the role)

• Responsibility for undertaking confiscation investigations running parallel to criminal investigations conducted by our Enforcement colleagues, or civil recovery investigations, using POCA Part 2 / Part 5 and Part 8 powers as appropriate, including managing and planning search operations and /or other high value asset seizures, undertaking criminal money laundering investigations under Part 7 POCA, using investigative powers as necessary and appropriate, along with obtaining / making section 9 CJA 1967 witness statements, dealing with unused material, evidential reviews and planning, managing and undertaking suspect interviews under PACE, obtaining evidence from overseas

• Drafting witness statements for Restraint Orders under section 41 POCA or applications for Property Freezing Orders under POCA Part 5, 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 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

• Supporting, coaching, mentoring and giving practical advice to junior and trainee AFIs / FIOs, addressing training and / or performance issues, as well as advising and training FCA colleagues on all aspects of the Proceeds of Crime and associated work

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

Our competitive flexible benefits scheme gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifecycle. 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 our London or Leeds office.

The skills and experience you will have

Minimum Criteria

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, should they meet the minimum criteria for a role.

• A current, live accreditation 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 and criminal money laundering investigations, all in accordance with POCA, in respect of NIM level 3 investigations, setting investigative strategy and reporting to stakeholders on progress

• Current experience of using a range of tools to further financial investigations including MLAT, POCA, 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

• Experience of coaching and mentoring current and new AFIs / FIOs to achieve, maintain and improve the necessary skills and capabilities of the POC Team

Essential Criteria

• Excellent knowledge of (ECHR) and its impact on POCA casework

• Sound knowledge of Serious Crime Act 2015, Criminal Finances Act 2017, Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2024 and their impact on POC work at the FCA

• The willingness to exercise your own judgement and initiative and be prepared to make and justify recommendations to Team management

• Strong analytical and investigative skills

• Strong drafting skills, communication and interpersonal skills

• A "can-do" attitude and the ability to work under pressure and meet challenging deadlines

• Current experience of the legal obligations under Data Protection Act 2018, PACE, RIPA / IPA, Human Rights Act and CPIA

About the FCA

The FCA regulates the conduct of 50,000 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 Senior 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

This role is graded Senior Associate – Regulatory

Applications for this role close at 23:59 on the 16th July 2024

This role can be based in London or Leeds

Got a question?

If you are interested in learning more about the role, please contact:

• For internal applicants, please contact Michael Wood at Michael.Wood@fca.org.uk

• For external applicants, please contact Ifrah Azam at ifrah.azam@fca.org.uk

What to expect from our interview process

The process will involve a 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.