What does the role involve?
A new initiative was established to support the firm wide introduction of an innovative new electronic platform. This online platform, known as eDesk, supports lawyers and secretaries working on matters and clients. The firm has been running phase one of the eDesk rollout in a number of the firm’s service lines focusing on client and matter inception.
As part of the eDesk project, a new team known as the central team was created. The role of this team is to give lawyers a central resource to help them meet their regulatory requirements. Initially, this involved undertaking anti-money laundering (AML) and client due diligence checks.
The role of the central team is now being extended to include the entire file opening and closing process. In addition to the AML and client due diligence checks, the team will also conduct conflict checking, drafting the letter of engagement, scoping and estimating, ‘filleting’ files, scanning, archiving and dealing with client balances where required. The team will have direct client contact if further information is required during this process.
It is anticipated that eDesk and the extended suite of services will be rolled out to all lawyers across the Firm and as a result, it is likely that the central team will grow to manage the additional workload
Who will I be working with?
You will be reporting to the debt recovery executive and liaising with the lawyers, secretaries and finance, library/information services and the risk & compliance team’s where necessary.
Main duties and responsibilities
Anti-money laundering (AML) and other checks
- Verify the identities of individual clients, either by conducting online identity checks, or checking identity documents provided by the client.
- Identify company ownership and beneficial ownership structures, e.g. shareholders, management structure etc. for corporate clients. Review beneficial and legal ownership documents for other legal entities.
- Conduct conflict checks and escalate where necessary under the firms escalation policy.
- Conduct credit checks as necessary.
- Monitor identity evidence for existing clients in accordance with set guidelines and update as necessary.
- Conduct client due diligence checks and tasks, such as sanctions, terrorist financing, politically exposed persons and disqualified directors checks.
- If required conduct additional checks including insolvency checks.
- Monitor any other checks undertaken within fee-earning teams as required.
- Conduct all relevant client balance and interest checks on matter closing, requesting instruction from supervisor and/or client where required, then closing the matter and/or client file in accordance with the firms policies and procedures.
- Review, ‘fillet’ and scan matter and/or client files for archiving in accordance with the firms policies and procedures.
Assessing AML and KYC (Know Your Client) checks
- Liaise with the risk & compliance team to ensure compliance with customer due diligence on a risk sensitive basis.
- Take responsibility for assessing the AML information obtained and ensure this meets the firm’s requirements and escalate as necessary.
Legal research
- Where standard searches do not provide sufficient information to complete AML checks for a particular client, undertake further detailed research using publically available sources where possible to locate the additional information required.
Controls
- Conduct any required controls of the central inception teams processes to include but not limited to; conducting and reviewing the override log, fast track and new client monitoring
- Recording the results of the controls and where necessary escalate the results in accordance with the firms policies and procedures.
eDesk
- Upload information onto the AML system and eDesk as appropriate to help maintain an accurate audit trail of the checks that we have undertaken.
- Open files on both eDesk and PMS both accurately and efficiently following the firm policies and procedures.
- Create client letters of engagements with relevant scoping and estimating where appropriate and in accordance with instruction.
Advice and guidance
- Liaise with lawyers and secretaries as appropriate.
- Provide guidance to lawyers and secretaries on file opening process to include AML, conflicts and other any other check issues as appropriate and subject to supervision.
- On transactional work (also known as regulated sector work) ensure that lawyers understand the nature of the transaction and the source of the client’s wealth and funds for that transaction.
Training
- Attend and participate in any required training provided either internally or externally.
- Assist and mentor members of the central team (and others) on the team processes and procedures, providing support feedback where required.
- Review and update team and firm policies and procedures where requested, ensuring any policy changes have been approved by the relevant key stakeholder within the firm before publishing.
For more information, and to apply, please visit the Mills & Reeve recruitment website.