Financial Crime & Sanctions Analyst

About the role

Freshfields is recruiting a Financial Crime and Sanctions Analyst, a junior-level, second-line position in the Financial Crime and Sanctions (FCS) Team of the Legal Department. The role supports the day-to-day implementation of financial crime and sanctions controls, with a focus on client due diligence and reverifications, ongoing client and matter monitoring, sanctions monitoring, gifts and hospitality, and support for the firm's remediation project. It is based in Manchester or London.

Key responsibilities

• Client reverifications and backlog reduction: coordinate ongoing monitoring with partners and fee earners, collect and analyse due diligence material, and drive down the reverification backlog while tracking progress.
• Ongoing monitoring of clients and matters: review records, screen for PEPs, sanctions and adverse media, and support enhanced due diligence and clearance conditions for high-risk clients.
• Sanctions monitoring: assist with sanctions procedures, including analysing and resolving matches and escalating where required.
• Gifts and hospitality: support anti-bribery and corruption matters, triage and analyse approval requests and escalate relevant data and records.
• Corrective actions: execute high-volume CDD and AML remediation projects, manage periodic review backlogs and apply the risk-rating methodology.
• Other: quality control data recording and trend analysis, internal records and databases, regulatory reporting, and other FCS projects assigned by the Head of Financial Crime and Sanctions.

Required profile

• Strong understanding of AML/CTF regulation and compliance issues, ideally gained in an international law firm, professional services firm or financial institution.
• Previous hands-on experience of client due diligence, ongoing monitoring, client reverifications and/or sanctions screening in a KYC, onboarding or compliance operations environment.
• General understanding of ethical rules, international law firm transactions and their compliance risks.
• Effective written and oral communication, strong attention to detail, organisation, analytical and research skills, and comfort in a fast-paced team environment.
• Right to work in the UK; Freshfields is a Ban the Box employer.

Required skills

• High level of IT skills, including Excel, Word, Outlook and web-based research.