Middle office - Trade Operations Officer

Bring your possibility to life! Define your career with us

With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.

Job Summary

To deliver a highly efficient Client service and support function by being the primary point of contact between Front Office and Back Office, ensuring a smooth client experience during the lifecycle of each deal.

To perform fit for processing checks within the agreed Service Level Agreement (SLA)

To perform Transaction monitoring in accordance with Trade based mon

To perform the deal management function for debt, Structured Finance, Commodity finance & Open Accounts

To manage risks, track transactions and ensure a high service delivery to all clients

All products are defined as Letters of Credit (LC), Documentary Collections, BGIs (Bonds, Guarantees and Indemnities), Open Accounts products i.e. Receivables Finance (RF), Selective Receivables Finance (SRF), Supplier Finance (SF). Financial Institutions (FI) Trade and Trade Loans, Irrevocable ey laundering and Trade Finance Standard policy

Reimbursement Undertakings (IRUs), Global Trade Asset Distribution (GTAD)

Job Description

Client service and support (20%)

For All Products

• Front office support – participate in implementation and provide support to the Front Office.
• Client Focus – where required liaise with clients to resolve queries working jointly with various stakeholders.
• Innovation – continuously investigate new and better ways to enhance the operating environment by measuring the effectiveness of all procedures.
• Fit for Processing (FFP) - establish and solution root cause FFP failures to ensure streamlined transaction management e.g. no credit limits, resolutions and mandates not in place
• Adhoc requests - e.g. Certificate of balance, audit certificates, client queries, book reports, provide an account on boarding service to new clients and train clients around the operation of their relevant facilities
• Client requests – Billing, manage escalations, complaints, queries and recoveries not limited to.
• Interaction with Key Stakeholders / Relationship Management - partner with various areas across the Absa Group in order to manage client requirements and enable Fit for Processing including Absa Finance, Treasury, Corporate Front Office, Product, Credit, Documentation Management – TA and Transactional Management Group (TMG), Relationship Executives (RE), Legal, Risk, Product Control Group, TAG, Excon and Regulatory.
• Transaction management – proactively manage milestones and ensure applicable trackers/ check lists are adhered to.

Control & Execution: Fit for Processing (50%)

For All Products

• Transaction monitoring - proactively manage milestones and ensure applicable trackers/ check lists are adhered to.
• Perform fit for processing checks -  ensuring all information is accurate and meets the required standards for all respective trade transactions, this includes the following checks:
  • Credit limits and referrals
  • Know Your Customer (KYC) Checks
  • Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Red Flags in accordance with the Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML) & Trade Finance (TF) Standard policy
  • Standard / Non Standard Legal wording
  • Pricing
• Excon check and referral to Excon Specialists where Exchange Control Application (ECA) is required.

For All Products except Receivable’s Finance

• Loan Booking – Ensure technical correctness of each instruction/application for funding and that the necessary approvals to undertake the transaction are obtained prior to booking deals with Treasury
• Ensure the booking system parameters (Limits, SSIs and client profiles)  are in order prior to loan requests being honoured

For FI and Documentary Trade Specific Products

• Document checking and Negotiation- Review trade documentation required in terms of the various products and analyse and interpret content through effective application of International Chamber of Commerce Guidelines, International Standard Banking Practice and other applicable ICC publications (UCP 600, ISBP, RR725, URDG 758)
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• Ensure that all information transcribed from an incoming Letter of Credit to an outgoing message (MT710) is accurate, complete and relevant to the transaction at hand. The transaction needs to be fully understood and all potential risks eliminated prior to the sending of the MT710
• Financial modelling - Ensure that all exposures are accurately recorded on the bank systems (Midas, IMEX and GEMs).
• Bank Limits – Maintain bank limits and exposures on the GEMs system ensuring that information is correct for all FI transactions (oversight of  daily excess reporting, bank limit reservations, monthly reporting and limit reviews) for Absa.

For Open Accounts Products

• Provide Front office support – participate in implementation as support to the Front Office.
• System Administration - Ensure Open Account deals are correctly set up and updated on the relevant  bank systems  (limits, pricing, supplier and client on boarding, documentation)

Structured Trade and Commodity Finance Products

• Work with and give input to Front Office on deal structure requirements to ensure new deals are operationally possible.
• Manage and monitor all third party service providers including but not limited to (Collateral Managers, Insurance, Freight Forwarders, Inspection companies, storers and Traders/Agents) with each drawdown and due dates.
• Stock, futures/forward position need to be well management and monitored to meet the deal requirements with each drawdown and on required due dates.
• Have a good understanding of the underlying commodity and country (market) that is being dealt with on each transaction before transaction is implemented and interlocking with the correct stakeholders to close any gaps on this understanding before deal is implemented. 

Governance, Risk and Compliance (20%)

• Control Environment – ensure all deals comply with regulatory and legal requirements. Take responsibility for deal to ensure current controls and procedures are observed. Continuously consider risk mitigation and operational effectiveness, with monthly KRI’s reporting and providing feedback where applicable. Log all risk and loss events as they occur as a result of fraud or error highlighted in the department. First, escalate to line manager and then contact Operational Risk Management (ORM).
• Accounting – review of reconciliations, month end procedures, consolidation, preparation of information and review deal accuracy. Ensure that all exposures are accurately recorded on the banks systems (Midas, Front Arena, IMX, IMEX and GEMS) Reconciliation of all payments over Nostro accounts associated with the applicable product
• Adhoc reporting – prepare reports and provide relevant information as and when requested by stakeholders.
• Business Continuity Management (BCM) – provide regular (as requested) inputs and actively participate in the review of the BCM plans by attending all meetings when requested and updating relevant documents.
• Record Management – provide regular (as requested) inputs and actively participate in the review of the Record Management procedures by attending meetings when requested and updating relevant documents.
• Complete all relevant compliance training and be conversant with the relevant regulations that impact on day to day functions
• Complete all Month End Reconciliation processes and procedures, ensuring close attention paid to risk mitigating activities
• Escalate all potential risk events immediately
• Provide all requested Management Information (MI) as required
• Comply with prescribed policies, processes and procedures to prevent any financial loss

Innovation and Change (5%)

• Able to implement/monitor change/projects
• Set own personal development goal objectives and completed all required actions in order to achieve
• Continuously look for opportunities to further develop own skills and expand knowledge base

Stakeholder management (5%)

• Build and manage relationships with various levels of stakeholders across a diverse population, across multiple countries and regions.

Education

Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)