Specialist, Asset Services (Al Ain)

• Responsible for daily monitoring and processing of Corporate Actions processes covering Domestic and Regional and International Market for both mandatory and voluntary specific corporate actions functions of diverse products like equities mutual funds, fixed income, hedge fund, structured funds, ETF and ensuring highest quality of client service delivery as per international standards.
• Responsible for handling moderately intricate to extremely complex corporate action events across Local, Regional, International Markets. Processing responsibilities include the receipt of market / sub custodian announcements, the scrubbing/comparison of data, and the notification of corporate action events to client. Reconciliation of client positions with respective sub custodians and markets and monitors appropriate posting of accruals and entitlements to client accounts. For all voluntary events is responsible for soliciting and receiving responses from the clients and for submitting these instructions to the respective sub custodians / markets / agents / processing bank prior to their deadline dates.
• Communicate with many entities Clients, Counter parties, Markets, Sub Custodians, Regulators, Companies, Brokers, Paying Agents, Issuers covering Local, Regional, Global Markets, related to corporate actions process, support Due Diligence visits linking to corporate actions process.
• The incumbent is responsible for adhering to established quality control measures and procedures.
• Responsible to provide the first level training for new specialists and will assist specialists in handling inquiries.
• Active participation in understanding the Operating module, including Securities Lending and Borrowing transactions, that are large in value and complex in nature, ensuring their successful corporate actions processing, avoiding loss and penalties to the bank and clients that could cause the bank Reputational, Financial and Operational Risk.
• Current offering of Department: Position Management, Security/Cash Settlement, Corporate Actions, Reporting, Invoicing, Reconciliation, Swift, Market Security Movement, Cash Management, Project Support, Proxy Services, Tax Reclaims, Income Management. Planned expansion into support of Securities Lending, Client Short Selling, Network Management Support, Claim Management and other services.
• Specialist will participate in section related projects such as system upgrade / changes, processing enhancements and off hours system testing.
• Active participation in implementation of corporate actions processing related to new clients SLA and SLD, Sub Custodian SLA, New Functions, Products, Market Rules Regulations and Procedures with relevant controls to provide highest level of client delivery.
• Tracking of other custodian's offering in line with International best practices with clear understanding of client's requirements, adapting to rapidly changing business environment and client's requirements.
• Responsible to coordinate and work with various internal departments and external entitles and concerned persons as an integral part related to participation in Projects in order to Reengineer the process for excellence client delivery and reduce manual activities.

Policies, Systems, Processes & Procedures

• Follow all relevant departmental policies, processes, standard operating procedures, and instructions so that work is carried out in a controlled and consistent manner.

• Demonstrate compliance to organization’s values and ethics at all times to support the establishment of a value drive culture within the bank.

Continuous Improvement

• Contribute to the identification of opportunities for continuous improvement and sustainability of systems, processes and practices considering global standards, productivity improvement and cost reduction.

• Assist in the preparation of timely and accurate statements and reports to meet department requirements, policies and quality standards.

• Participation on section related projects, systems upgrades / changes, new client requirements, new product functions related to corporate actions

• Understanding and active participation in Projects requirements and system upgrades and changes.

• Ensure accurate and timely processing of client and client impacting instructions. Reconciling to confirm appropriate settlement of all transactions (FX, Cash, Securities, Corporate Action, Tax Reclaims). Volumes are significant, and as this is a new an up-and-coming business the volumes and complexity of the products and services being offered are increasing exponentially.

• Managing transactions that are large in value and complex in nature, ensuring their successful settlement, avoiding loss and penalties to the bank and clients that could cause the bank Reputational, Financial and Operational Risk.

Specific accountabilities

• Responsible for the end-to-end corporate actions processing in accordance with regulatory and compliance requirements, with an increased focus on accurate and timely execution to enhance the client experience.

• Responsible for daily monitoring and processing of Corporate Actions processes covering Domestic and Regional and International Market for both mandatory and voluntary specific corporate actions functions of diverse products like equities mutual funds, fixed income, hedge fund, structured funds, ETF and ensuring highest quality of client service delivery as per international standards.
• Responsible for handling moderately intricate to extremely complex corporate action events across Local, Regional, International Markets. Processing responsibilities include the receipt of market / sub custodian announcements, the scrubbing/comparison of data, and the notification of corporate action events to client. Reconciliation of client positions with respective sub custodians and markets and monitors appropriate posting of accruals and entitlements to client accounts. For all voluntary events is responsible for soliciting and receiving responses from the clients and for submitting these instructions to the respective sub custodians / markets / agents / processing bank prior to their deadline dates.
• Ensure to track and respond to internal and external clients'' queries by providing clear detailed corporate actions information in line with the relevant market rules and regulations and corporate actions best practice.

• Responsible for communicating with various stakeholders like Markets, Sub Custodians, Agents, Companies, Depositories, Brokers, Issuers to ensure smooth accurate timely corporate actions processing.

• Responsible to have excellent knowledge related to corporate actions swift messages and usages of the same.

• Demonstrates reliability by taking necessary actions to continuously meet required deadlines and goals.

• Articulates information clearly and presents information effectively and confidently when working with others.

• Convinces others by making a strong case, bringing others along to their viewpoint; maintains strong, trusting relationships while at the same time is comfortable challenging ideas.

• Participation in section related projects, system changes and upgrades and new client’s requirements and implementation of sub custodian / client SLA.

• Review processes and suggest and implement changes to enhance client satisfaction and reduce manual intervention and reduce overall cost.

• Asset Services: Responsible for Corporate Actions, support Tax Reclaims, Proxy Services, Network Management Support, Income Management, Reconciliation.

• Cash / FX Settlement: Review and validate all transactions inputted by the officer / another specialist. Escalate all mismatches to AVP. Validate all data entered into the system and forward to AVP for review. On settlement date of transaction ensure transaction settled and all appropriate accounting entries executed. Escalate any settlement issues / discrepancies to AVP Validate and Sign any vouchers that need to be passed for FX / Cash execution for review by the AVP.

• Corporate Actions / support Tax Reclaims/ Proxy: Monitoring sources for Corporate Action Announcements (Newspapers, Bloomberg, Reuters, Sub-Custodians, Local Market Websites) and submitting information to officer / another specialist for input into the system, supporting Tax Reclaims and Proxy Services. Validate all transactions entered by officer / another specialist into the custody system and ensuring that transactions are processed appropriately.

• Position / Cash Management: Review clients’ positions and holdings daily and reconcile positions with sub-custodians and market to ensure there are no discrepancies. Escalate any discrepancies to AVP. Daily review of client’s cash positions to ensure all clients have appropriate funding and escalating to AVP and Middle Office any potential over drafts or if client is at risk of being insufficient.

• SWIFTS: Validate swift instructions inputted by officer / another specialist into the system for AVP to Authorize. Second Level of SWIFT generation process.

• Reconciliation: Second level of reconciliation ensuring all appropriate checks are done to ensure there are no discrepancies and escalating any issues to the AVP.

• Ad Hoc Requests: Supporting the AVP as required for business-as-usual matters and projects and initiatives.

• Risk Indicators: Responsible to ensure controls and procedures are being adhered to by the section. Monitor all KPIs, KRIs, Capacity Planning. Submit any incidents and issues to AVP for review. Monitoring transactions to ensure they are being processed according to Compliance / Audit standards (requirements).

Minimum Qualification

• University Graduate / bachelor’s degree (or 5 years related work experience)

Minimum Experience

• 5 + years related experience in security services and / or back-office operations e.g. managing corporate actions / securities settlements

• Solid understanding of security services and operations and accounting activity related to security services

• Ability to work under pressure, to priorities and to manage several tasks at the same time

• Team oriented and ability to work under pressure

• Ability to achieve business objectives without compromising controls and risk parameters established

• Strong execution skills in a multi-tasking mode and follow-up effectively

• Self-starter with excellent attitude, communication and interpersonal skills

• High level of accuracy & attention to detail and excellent team working skills

• Specific experience in Securities related functions e.g. Client Services, Corporate Actions, Settlement, Data Maintenance & Billing or Custody Account Opening will be an added advantage