Risk recruitment’s already hot. Thanks to Jerome Kerviel, it looks set to steam.

What with SocGen’s shaming at the hands of Jérôme Kerviel and the warning from Singapore’s central bank that it’s up to banks themselves to avert future frauds, it’s safe to assume risk recruitment is about to heat up. Trouble is, it’s at boiling point already.

Last month the Monetary Authority of Singapore, commenting on the Kerviel affair, said the primary responsibility for ensuring such incidents don’t happen again lies “with the board and management of financial institutions”.

According to local recruiters, the market for compliance and risk professionals is already red hot, and has been for some time, with demand rising steadily.

“There is a considerable amount of hiring going on within credit risk, mainly due to broader market issues,” explains Jeremy Canning, country head for Morgan McKinley Singapore. “Expansion within market risk functions is also prompting strong demand for new hires as a greater variety of products become utilised and trades become more complex,” he adds.

While local talent tends to be preferred, anyone with strong technical knowledge and good communications skills will be in serious demand, and those with substantial market risk experience within a particular derivative product will be able to command serious money.

Basic salaries in such areas can now be as high as S$140k-S$160k, compared with around S$120k-S$140k last year, says Canning.

A senior VP-level compliance officer with eight to 12 years' experience could now be on as much as S$200k-S$300k and a three to six month bonus, adds Pearline Teo, general manager for recruiter Hughes-Castell in Singapore.

“A lot of banks have been beefing up their teams, particularly in areas such as money laundering, security, technical and audit,” she agrees.