Services Risk & Controls Director for Digital Assets

Serving clients in 95 countries, Services provides integrated payments and collections, liquidity management, short term financing and trade financing, Investor Services (including Custody, Fund Services and Execution Services) and Issuer Services solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, public sector organizations and increasingly mid-sized corporate clients with global needs. These services are supported by our extensive on-the-ground local market expertise, innovative technologies, customized data solutions and a wide range of solutions that can be tailored to meet clients’ needs.

Both the Controls and Regulatory Management team as well as the Financial Crime and Reputational risk team are responsible for ensuring proactive, effective, and sustainable risk management within the Services business which is one of Citi’s five interconnected businesses lines.

The Risk and Controls Director for Digital Assets is a first line role responsible for supporting the Services businesses in managing and mitigating financial crime (AML, Sanctions, ABC & Fraud), regulatory and reputational risks end-to-end. This role will work with the global and regional Products, Business Risk, Operations, Technology and Compliance teams to identify and assess emerging risks to ultimately ensure there is a control infrastructure in place can address them in a meaningful and effective manner. Equally, the incumbent will ensure adequate mapping and ongoing assessment of existing controls, focusing on their effectiveness, as well as adherence to existing groupwide and local policies and applicable regulation.  

The role will assist the prompt identification of control issues, root cause assessment, sustainable and robust issue resolution and appropriate escalation. The individual will also work with counterparts across other Citi lines of business to share control best practices, emerging risks and support management of financial crime and other regulatory risks holistically across the firm.

The role requires a broad and comprehensive understanding of digital assets and of the risks associated to this asset class, as well as effective means to mitigate them.  Requires solid conceptual/practical grounding in Risk Management, compliance, and operational controls, together with industry and peer best practices. 

Responsibilities: 

• Understand business-owned products, services, as well as corresponding financial crimes-related controls, and processes (e.g., customer, relationship, and transactional screening).

• Provide financial crimes & regulatory compliance/risk management subject matter expertise to the Services businesses to ensure the design and implementation of a coherent and effective control environment.

• Support design and ongoing adaptations of the control framework to ensure effective and robust risk management.

• Drive execution ensuring compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

• Ensure adequate mapping of risk and processes and clear control ownership.

• Create & maintain a robust partnership with the business heads, operations, technology and the second line of defense.

• Escalate, assist management and reporting of control issues.

• Drive a consistent and holistic approach to Financial Crimes, Reputational and Regulatory risk management across Services Digital Assets.

• Ensure early engagement on new business initiatives to provide timely support of commercial priorities and full adherence to global and regional risk management policies and procedures.

• Conduct reviews of control processes and procedures to ensure that both controls and processes are in keeping with policy and business expectations.

• Assure that controls have been implemented consistently, with appropriate supporting documentation.

• Maintain and expand current knowledge and understanding of product innovation, client needs and of changing regulatory requirements to continuously assess impact and changes needed to existing control environment.

• Serve as an escalation point for issues or emerging from Services Operations, and Technology.

• Maintain oversight through review of metrics, monitoring of activity, and tracking of corrective action plans.

• Prepare and provide regular updates to senior management and various governance committees on control issues and/or enhancements.

• Work with other Control and in-business risk teams to ensure a consistent holistic approach to risk management.

• Ensure robust and adequate reporting to senior management.

• Help identify opportunities for streamlining processes and implement efficiencies that will lead to enhanced client experience.

• Support