Head of Agency Compliance

At AIA we’ve started an exciting movement to create a healthier, more sustainable future for everyone.

It’s about finding new ways to not only better people's lives, but to better the communities and environments we live in. And we build on this every day with our ambition to engage one billion people to live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives by 2030.

And to get there, we need leaders with the courage, clarity and humanity to inspire, guide and support their teams to thrive every day - in the work they do and the life they live. Our leaders always have and will play a vital part in our journey to help more people live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives, build healthier societies and cultivate healthier environments that better everyone.

If you sound like that leader, read on.

About the Role

• Lead and oversee the Agency Distribution Governance Department, which works as a 1.5 line of defense for Agency Distribution in partnership with intermediaries (agents, bancassurance, and brokerage), distribution teams, and Risk & Compliance (as the second line of defense).
• Ensure full adherence to regulatory requirements and the company's compliance and risk management standards, while driving a culture of compliance and responsible sales practices across the distribution channels.
• Enable deliberate management of regulatory relationships at various levels (Leadership, Working Levels, Intermediaries) with trust and efficiency.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Policies, guidelines and programmes

• Responsible for the overall design, implementation and ongoing enhancement of agency sales management policies and guidelines, with effective controls monitoring programs in fulfilling group and regulatory requirements, such as conduct risk requirements, whilst ensuring alignment with business objectives.
• Implement the Distribution Quality Operating Model and enforce its application across distribution channels, including agency, bancassurance, and brokerage
• Represent Agency in Group and Local Compliance initiatives relating to distribution sales.
• Collaborate with Law, Risk and Compliance to interpret regulatory requirements and expectations, and facilitate the implementation of appropriate standards to ensure compliant with regulatory guidelines and requirements for distribution teams and intermediaries.
• Proactively identify and address regulatory changes and their impact on distribution practices.
• Provide solid and practical governance advice and support on business initiatives

Governance Culture and Ethics

• Promote good conduct and customer protection culture in distribution channels through ongoing engagement, communication and effective education program & training, with smart sales tips and best practice bulletins
• Develop and roll out training programs for distribution channels, including agents, on regulatory requirements and ethical sales practices.
• Ensure regular communication and continuous education of agents on compliance-related issues, policy changes, and best practices.
• Work closely with intermediaries, Distribution Teams, Risk and Compliance, to ensure full adherence to the company’s compliance and risk management requirements
• Observe best sales practice and promote quality selling among agency channels

Reporting and Monitoring

• Develop and implement multiple dashboards/ report for the review of distribution quality, and actively identify and prevent misconduct issues
• Develop and implement all required Distribution Quality Indices and report to company’s risk committee by channel levels on a regular basis
• Conduct periodic sample checking on sales compliance requirements
• Conduct quality assurance reviews of sales practices to identify conduct and compliance risks, and recommend timely risk-mitigating actions
• Identify misconduct behaviors via detection tools / reporting and provide advice to sales intermediaries
• Report distribution quality to company’s committee on a regular basis
• Ensure full adherence to the company’s approach and procedures in dealing with suspected instances of misconduct by employees and/or fraud and misappropriations by intermediaries, from receiving allegations to planning and conducting investigations.
• Timely identify and escalate misconduct issues to relevant stakeholders.

Regulatory Review

• Manage and coordinate requests for meeting, process for exams, monitoring reviews, conduct inspection, etc. as requested by regulators
• Lead pre-meeting/exams/reviews/inspection readiness preparation, tough-point meetings with regulators/relevant internal stakeholders and management, and closing meeting
• Follow up and coordinate responses on result / further requests; escalate any identified issues to management / stakeholders; actively provide advice / solutions and drive changes as appropriate
• Interpret regulatory changes and advise the business on their implications.

Staff Development

• Responsible for coaching and developing team members to strengthen the capabilities of the team.
• Accountable for succession planning and talent management within the department.

Minimum Job Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree holder or, ideally, above, in appropriate field (e.g., Risk Management, Business Management, Insurance or Law) with 15 to 20 years solid work experience in the financial industry handling 1st or 1.5 line of defence /or controls, and at least 5 years in a lead role.
• In-depth understanding of the Insurance business preferred, or financial services/banking sector with.
• Experience is dealing with regulators and on-site inspection/audit
• Excellent command of English, both written and oral.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Independent and able to work under pressure.
• Must be organized, detail-oriented and analytical.
• Must possess strong leadership, coaching and influencing skills; strong business acumen; effective change management skills; problem solving and decision making skills.
• With high-level of integrity and takes ownership and accountability of results.

Others:

• You are required to obtain the relevant license(s) if your job involves regulated activities

Build a career with us as we help our customers and the community live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives.

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