A regulatory associiate helps staff comply with laws and regulations.
A regulatory associate plays a pivotal role in corporate compliance systems because he helps employees abide by laws and regulations when performing their duties. A company's top leadership generally requires department heads to establish adequate and functional compliance procedures that adhere to industry practices, human resources policies and government regulations.
Responsibilities
A regulatory, or compliance, associate works under the guidance of a senior professional to review corporate procedures or policies and ensure that these policies conform to governmental directives. For instance, a regulatory aide working for an investment bank may ensure that the company's trading practices adhere to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules. A compliance associate also ensures that employees abide by applicable laws when performing their duties. As an illustration, the bank's regulatory aide can instruct traders on the latest SEC regulations.
Education and Training
A regulatory associate typically holds a bachelor's degree in law, accounting or tax. A compliance aide also may have a liberal arts background, such as sociology or literature, and receive on-the-job training before performing his duties. Most senior regulatory associates with significant duties may hold advanced degrees, such as masters or doctorates, in law, taxation or finance. Alternatively, some regulatory aides with public accounting experience hold certified public accountant (CPA) licenses.
Salary
A regulatory associate's total compensation may include wages as well as cash or stock bonuses and depends on the industry and company size. Other individual factors, such as seniority, length of service, professional certifications or academic training, also may affect compensation levels. According to Indeed.com, the average annual salary of a U.S.-based regulatory associate was $69,000 as of June 2010, excluding cash and stock bonuses.
Career Development
A regulatory associate who wants to improve chances of promotion may seek a professional certification or an advanced degree. To illustrate, an undergraduate compliance aide at an investment bank may enroll in a business school's graduate finance program and receive a master's of business administration in taxation or legal studies. Alternatively, he may take the chartered financial analyst (CFA) exam to improve her chances of promotion. A competent regulatory associate moves to a senior role within two to five years.
Working Conditions
A regulatory aide's work schedule is a typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift. However, business conditions, such as quarterly regulatory filings or monthly close procedures, may require longer stays at the office. For instance, a compliance associate at a pharmaceutical company may stay late at the office at the end of the month or quarter to help the company file regulatory forms to the SEC or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Tags: regulatory associate, compliance associate, regulatory aide, cash stock, cash stock bonuses