Job Description

The Client Accounting Department’s overarching responsibility is to safeguard client money and assets held by the company for clients by ensuring the money and assets are recorded and reconciled accurately to enable the firm at any time to distinguish client money and assets held for one client from client money and assets held for any other client.

The Client Money team has four primary functions: external and internal client money reconciliations; timely and accurate client trade settlement; timely and accurate processing of client deposits and withdrawals; and, investigation and allocation of any unknown client money deposits.

All activities must be completed according to documented procedures and within regulatory and internally prescribed deadlines.

Team Objectives:

• Responsible for performing the daily client money calculation, ensuring any client money shortfall is accurately calculated, and any money move is completed before close of business, as prescribed in CASS 7.
• Responsible for performing daily external client money reconciliations for all client money bank accounts to third party bank statements, as prescribed in CASS 7.
• When performing both the internal and external client money reconciliations, the team is responsible for timely investigation, resolution and escalation of any reconciling items.
• Effecting timely and accurate settlement of client trades using BACS, CHAPS and CREST. Liaison with third parties when trade settlement issues arise.
• Processing foreign exchange transactions and ensuring all transactions are processed within deadlines.
• Investigation and timely resolution of unidentified cash moves, within prescribed CASS 7 deadlines.
• Assist in the timely and accurate production of the Client Money and Assets Return as prescribed by SUP 16.14.
• Producing accurate and relevant Management Information that tracks volumes, issues and errors.

Departmental Objectives:

• Ensuring procedures and process maps are updated when processes change, and at least quarterly.
• Ensuring procedures and process maps are relevant and accurate.
• Solid awareness of CASS 6/7/8 and any other regulations that are relevant to the core process in the Client Accounting Department.
• Fostering and maintaining strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Awareness of how the Department’s activities fit and support the company  business proposition.
• Drive a professional and ethical culture within the Department, aligned with the FCA’s principles for business.
• Rotations through other teams within the Client Accounting Department, both routinely and at times where teams are experiencing an increase in volumes.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Understanding of Financial Services Degree in Maths, Economics or other Finance discipline Knowledge of CASS rules Intermediate MS Excel Experience of liaising with Clients / Fund Managers / Platforms Experience of CASS compliant procedures Previous third party administration experience CREST and Bloomberg