Transactional Manager Debt Middle Office at Absa Bank Limited

Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time.

With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.

Job Summary

The individual will manage responsibilities within investment banking for a discrete portfolio of clients in asset finance transactions from implementation to termination and ensure that the financial requirements are executed in line with the legal agreements. Ensuring all payments, invoicing and income on a facility level are accurately executed and managed within the approved processes and controls.

In executing the role, the individual will interlock with various internal and external clients and stakeholders, ensuring a high level of service whilst managing portfolio risk through the correct and timely execution of business and client instructions. The individual must also align the team to the business strategy and ensure the team contributes towards change project requirement setting, testing and implementation where required.

Job Description

Middle Office Service Provider Responsibilities

• Contribute during implementation meetings to enable accurate and timeous finance model build. Ensure the client is loaded on all relevant systems to enable timeous payment to clients on the expected due date.

• Booking trades with the Trading desk and validating that trades match the finance model built after the trading desk confirm the booking.

• Investigating booking errors, resolving operations cash breaks, and determining the impact of PnL. The Debt Mo team will be responsible for amendments where trade booking errors are identified. Amendments will be validated by the team leader of the Debt MO team.

• Ensuring loan asset margins, related funding and hedges are checked and captured correctly by the trading team.

• Analyse data from Trading Systems to explain PnL and risk positions to various internal stakeholders.

• Maintaining the integrity of trade-related data.

• Working with the Debt Transaction Management (Debt TM) team to ensure any updates or changes to the legal agreements are reflected in updating the finance model and the related trades booked with the trading desk.

• Monitor any changes that are required in the finance model (e.g., retched changes) and ensure the financial model is updated, as well as the related trades booked with the trading desk.

• Monthly recon between financial models and trading desk bookings to ensure accurate P&L.

• Monitoring all fees required to be charged per the legal agreements and Invoicing of fees while ensuring accuracy in calculating fees.

• Ensuring all ongoing deal management tasks are performed per the legal agreements from a financial perspective.

• Assist in identifying the reasons for cash breaks and providing feedback to Operations within the agreed turnaround times to enable them to clear the breaks within the required period.

• Responding to queries from internal and external stakeholders.

• Building and maintaining professional working relationships with all stakeholders, displaying excellent abilities to initiate dialogue, listening, advising, influencing and negotiating to achieve win-win outcomes.

• Adhere to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with stakeholders concerning the processing of transactions for the respective departments/ divisions/ units. (Pan Africa where necessary)

• Ensure a healthy balance between risk management and client service.

• Ensure adherence to processes and controls (automated/ manual checks and monitoring) to ensure the team keeps to applicable controls, processes, policies and regulations.

• Where possible, provide input and recommendations on improving the transactions' effectiveness, efficiency, processes and controls.

• Compile relevant MIS as required by management within the deadline.

• ·Contribute to system and quality enhancements by monitoring the respective activities and processes implemented and by keeping abreast with new methodologies and practices

• Work closely with Products, IT, Operations, Trading Desk, TM, PCG, Operations and other key partners to secure their support and enable MO execution in line with best practices.

Ongoing notifications to the trader about margin ratchets

• Utilise the relevant system to diarise margin ratchets.

• Diarising alerts to be created for deals where credit rating-related pricing ratchets apply.

• Upon review of the compliance certificate or rating alert, advise Trader of margin increase to the extent applicable.

• Proactive engagement with Trader to ensure there is clear communication and understanding so that client loan requests are executed effectively.

Risk Management Support

• Report on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Risk Indicators (KPIs) for quality and performance measurement purposes as required.

• Continuous review and monthly performance reporting against key drivers (KPI, KRI and SLAs), enabling changes in the department where necessary to optimize results

• Continuous review of monthly reports and recons, ensuring all trades and fees are booked and processed correctly and in line with set standards and controls.

• Ensure processes, control requirements and risk management frameworks that have been designed for the area are understood and are being executed.

• Assist management to close out all issues identified in processes or controls and for any audit findings that impact the area, agree on the actions required and implement the required changes within agreed timeframes.

• Ensure remediation actions are embedded within the required timelines.

• Ensure Green Audits by following agreed processes and controls put in place.

• Escalate and assist in investigating all risk and loss events (Operational Risk Events) and ensure all issues raised are resolved or escalated are closed out by the relevant parties.

• Ensure the complaints process is followed and closed out as per policies and procedures.

Culture

• Ensure adherence to a high-performing organization profile

• Live the Absa values

• Continuously up-skill self and colleagues on area expertise of Debt products, including related processes, procedures, legal, credit, compliance and external market knowledge, etc.

• Always ensure all processes, controls and checks are done in the team, ensuring good teamwork, irrespective of staff being on leave.

• Upskill self and rest of team (where possible) to ensure they can resolve internal and external client-related issues directly with the relevant stakeholder. Only escalate to the Product/Front Office when required (in line with the escalation matrix) Senior team has to be able to identify and resolve 80% of the challenges identified

Innovation and Financial

• Evaluate and ensure the correct processes and controls are followed to minimize and, where possible, eliminate operational losses, fraud and reputational risk within the business. Escalate to the Head of Debt MO if any gaps are identified before any changes are made.

• Ensure execution of allocated BAU, SI and Project delivery within the team and bigger business are done to deliver the strategy and Target Operating Model.

• Ensure there is no revenue leakage across Debt Middle Office, ensuring the correct processes and checks are executed across the value chain to minimize revenue leakage/risk. (Incorrect cost centre posting, review fees missed, incorrect entries etc.)

• Ensure no-financial losses due to operational errors.

• Contribute where possible to process re-engineering and continuous improvement of processes, controls and workflow to support the Debt operating model.

• Align to Middle Office strategy to support investment banking and group strategy overall.

• Identify/assist in solutions, supporting automation, and improving processes in the Middle Office space working with the other IB MO teams.

• Support key initiatives and projects, taking appropriate action and assisting in contributing to ensure timely and effective project implementation where dependent on MO.

Stakeholder Management

• Provide finance model structuring accuracy support to the Trading desk, validating accuracy after booking.

• Participate in client calls, visits and communication when and where necessary.

• Provide Operational subject matter expertise to enable client solutions

• Good interpersonal and team-working skills and the ability to communicate at all levels

• The ability to work in a pressured and unstructured environment and to cope with the demands of working to tight deadlines

• Business acumen, able to deal with challenging people

• Able to work as part of a team and guide team members that need assistance

Education and Experience Required

• Preferably B-Degree or equivalent Accounting/Finance

• Knowledge and experience in IB Debt Products or similar operation business environment

• In-depth knowledge and experience in the practicalities of financial models, recons etc.

• Experience in internal stakeholder management.

• Experience in reading, understanding and executing Legal Agreement requirements concerning financing calculations

• Understanding of bank and regulation control requirements

Competencies: (Maximum of 8 competencies)

• Financial Modeling of Debt structures

• Interpersonal people skills,

• Problem-Solving

• Risk and Control

• Adapting and responding to change

• Presenting and communicating information

Education

Bachelors Degree and Professional Qualifications: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.

Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised