Trade Services Clerk (Mandarin Speaking)

London, United Kingdom Posted on 13/11/2023

This is a permanent position working with a well-established bank in central London.

Principal Responsibilities of the Role

• The role is within the BanksIBD Trade Finance Department and will be interchangeably responsible for, butnot limited to, the processing & booking of TF transactions, documentchecking, settlement of trade finance products & production of OperationalMIS encompassing;
• Traditional documentarytrade structures (e.g. Import & Export LC, IRUs, LC settlements/collections, Guarantees/SBLCs)
• Open account structures ;(e.g. Pre & Post shipment Import /Export Finance, Trade Loans,
• Document checking and LCworkability
• The job holder will performtheir responsibilities to the required high level of quality & competencerequired by both external clients & internal stakeholders (TF RMs, CBD, FCPetc) in accordance with service level agreements (SLAs) as well as in strictaccordance with internal Policies & Procedures which will span across TF,FCP, CRD & other stakeholders requirements.
• The job holder will also ensure strong clientsatisfaction & service provided on a continual basis and will be the mainpoint of contact for Client's counterpart Operational teams for all trxprocessing related matters & queries, whilst ensuring relevant RM & TFHead is kept fully in the loop with relevant Client queries/issues pro-activelyanticipated, internally escalated to RM/TF Head and satisfactorily addressed intimely manner with approval of the latter. Client trxs TAT will be a key KPIfor the role as well as overall Client service satisfaction which will bemeasured based on client surveys directly.
• The job holder will be operationallyprocessing trade finance transactions within the required service levelagreements (SLAs) and to the required high standards. In addition, the role hasthe following responsibilities, including but not limited to;

1. Ensurethat risks incidents are reported as per policies and procedure to theOperational Risk Function of the Bank
2. Ensurethat customer queries and enquires are handled in accordance with the internalpolicies and procedures
3. Suggestand implement improvements and enhancements to the current processes, systems,and workflows
4. Review Clienttrx instructions received to ensure they are valid, workable and relevantregulations and internal Operational Policy and Procedures. Trxs include;
   o All aspects of import transactions, e.g.
   L/Cissuance, L/C acceptances, collections such as D/P, D/A, etc., scan document andsend to BPC for their checkingunder import L/Cs, effecting payment under L/Cs, D/P, D/A, etc., bankguarantees / standby L/Cs and import finance.
   o All aspects of export transactions e.g.
   L/C advising; L/C confirmation, scan documents andsend to BPC for their checkingagainst export L/C negotiation, L/C reimbursement and collections under D/P,D/A, etc. Double check the contents of delivery documentsbefore mailing.
   o Trade related finance solutions e.g.
   Import/Export Open a/cfinance, Packing loans, factoring, bills discounting, forf a iting and funded or un-fundedrisk participation, Inv discounting
5. Performrequired Trade Finance Compliance and due diligence checks in accordance withrelevant Policy & Procedures and alert RM/TF Head of relevant Red Flags
6. Processingtransactions timely and accurately within agreed SLAs with Clients local Marketpractice once trxs TAT agreed with RM/TF Head
7. Liaising with Issuing banks, beneficiaries,correspondents, treasury, credit, compliance on transactions as necessary toensure smooth processing and anticipate any bottlenecks proactively to findsolutions to address in conjunction with RM/TF Head
8. Calculate accurately the fees and interests for therelevant transactions and track payment, chase up late payments and escalatenon-payments to RM/TF Head
9. Liaise correspondence in connection with documentary import and export letters ofcredit for customers of the Bank in line with agreed procedures with BPC.
10. Collateand check documents which have been processed by BPC to ensure Compliant with letters ofcredit terms and conditions.
11. Proficient checking of payments with appropriate knowledgeof Swift rules after being made by BPC.
12. Timelyfollow ing up ofirregularities with customers and BPC.
13. Liaisewith clients on matters relating to L/C transactions togetherwith BPC.
14. Assist RMs/ TF Head in carry ing out various trade finance related statistical reports forManagement and Head Office.
15. Funds positioning.
16. Carry ing out periodicalaccounting reconciliation internally with Credit Administration, CorporateBanking and Financial Control departments and externally with BPC.
17. Make proper registrations to the business asrequired by the procedure.
18. Assist RMs / TF Head to monitorthe progress and ensure closure of transaction processing.
19. Suggest the upgrading of the working procedure& practices to continually drive efficiencies and improve trxs TAT
20. Filingand E-archiving of trxs-Create Electronic File at the time of Trxs initiation
21. All the CDD and AML checking in trade services andother products lines as required by the Bank's policy.
22. Keep all AML check evidences for audit trailpurpose. Must report / elevate to MLRO for potential positive hit orsuspicious transactions in accordance to the Bank's AML policy.
23. Where required, provide support to colleaguesacross the Trade Finance function as needed

Requirements

Relevant Technical Skills &Experience Required:

• Ø Strong Trade Finance Operations skills& knowledge - minimum of 2 years' experience in Banking/Financial Servicesin Trade Finance Operations/Middle Office area. Managing an TF Ops team wouldbe advantageous
• Ø Strong practical processing and trxsbooking experience of Trade Finance products and ability to process independently- incl. Import and Export LCs & Discounting, Transferable LCs, IRUs, Assignmentof proceeds, Collections, Avalized bills, Guarantees/SBLCs, Open accountstructures, LC settlements and Document Checking
• Ø Good knowledge of SWIFT & ICC Rulesincl. UCP 600, ISBP98, URR 725, URDG
• Ø Strong working knowledge of UK TradeFinance Compliance Regulations and strong practical knowledge & applicationof TF trxs internal controls from an AML, Compliance & Regulatoryperspective
• Ø Strong demonstrable experience ofinterpretation & application of the above in practice
• Ø Strong experience of Trade Finance TrxsProcessing Platforms and detailed end to end Trxs Booking & Operationalprocedures and related internal compliance & business controls

Interpersonal & Business Skills:

• Ø Proactive,Client centric and business growth mindset
• Ø Strong analytical reasoning skills
• Ø Excellentattention to detail, quality and accuracy
• Ø Adaptabilityto change in work flows & priorities
• Ø Analysis,planning and organizing
• Ø Teamwork,collaboration and adaptability to changing priorities
• Ø Strong& clear verbal and written communication incl. client facing
• Ø Strong drive for continuous improvement with the ability to think and challenge the status-quoto suggest, develop & implement Operational efficiencies
• Ø Demonstratedability to take initiative & work effectively in a team-oriented environment
• Ø Provenrecord of collaborating with colleagues across geographic and functionalboundaries
• Ø Strong& clear verbal and written communication incl. client facing
• Ø Fluencyin written and spoken English - Fluency in Mandarin would be highlyadvantageous
• Ø Strongwith MS Excel (formulas, VLOOKUP, and pivot tables), MS Power Point (able tocreate a presentation documents), MS Word