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Compliance Officer Duties Take Center Stage in Uganda’s Financial Sector

In Uganda, the role of a Compliance Officer has become increasingly crucial as regulatory bodies continue to tighten their grip on financial institutions to ensure compliance with laws and regulations.

Key Responsibilities

As a Risk and Compliance Officer at a leading financial institution, one is responsible for:

  • Conducting comprehensive risk assessments and compliance reporting
  • Identifying areas of non-compliance and providing recommendations for improvement
  • Ensuring that the institution’s policies and procedures are up-to-date and aligned with local regulatory requirements

Additional Responsibilities

The Compliance Officer plays a vital role in:

  • Enforcing compliance across all branches and head office processes
  • Strengthening Know-Your-Customer (KYC) issues
  • Identifying and eliminating multiple practices resulting from policy flaws
  • Providing compliance counseling and advisory services to respective departments

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Some key duties and responsibilities of the Compliance Officer in Uganda include:

  • Conducting portfolio reviews and reporting on relevant governance and management committees within the financial institution
  • Developing and operationalizing risk and compliance assessment tools and facilitating their implementation across all branches and field offices
  • Continuously assessing and evaluating the capacity and relevance of existing internal policies and procedures to mitigate risks
  • Proposing relevant legislation, rules, and regulations and monitoring their rollout across business units
  • Assisting management in complying with applicable statutory, regulatory, and supervisory requirements

Monitoring Non-Compliance

The Compliance Officer must:

  • Monitor non-compliance and escalate any issues where non-compliance is not addressed
  • Identify needs and provide regular training for newly hired employees and existing staff, especially in knowledge gaps leading to poor compliance

Requirements

The ideal candidate should possess:

  • A Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in a field related to risk management or accounting
  • Professional accounting or audit qualifications are also an added advantage
  • A minimum of four years’ experience in risk and compliance activities in a regulated financial institution

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Compliance Officer plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth operation of financial institutions in Uganda by identifying and mitigating risks, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, and providing training and support to staff.