Salary survey: Compliance

11 July 2007

2 minute read

Compliance salaries rose 10-15% last year. Does that mean compliance staff were happy? No.

An experienced compliance officer, with around six years' experience, can now command an annual average salary of 64.6k according to this year's salary survey from compliance recruiters PSD Group.

The best paid compliance types are fixed income product specialists, who earn an average salary of 76.7k after six years' slogging away in the role. The worst paid are 'compliance managers' - generalists who with six years' experience can command 58.6k.

Money laundering specialists aren't doing too badly for themselves: average salaries for around six years' in the business are around 74.5k.

But while salaries are rising, bonuses in compliance aren't likely to stretch to a private yacht any time soon. The average bonus in 2006 was somewhere in the region of 5% to 26%. Even heads of compliance only received bonuses averaging 33% to 50% of their basic salary last year, taking their total package to an average of between 175k and 210k.

Unsurprisingly perhaps - given last year's big payouts for the front office) - indications are that compliance staff aren't very happy with their lot. Only 23% are under the impression that their bonus is in line with the market, and 44% said there was dissatisfaction with bonuses in their department.

PSD's results are based on a survey of 2,500 compliance staff.

Average compliance salaries

Compliance assistant

One to three years: 34.1k

Three to five years: 45k

Compliance manager

Three to four years: 51k

Four to five years: 54.5k

Five to six years: 58.6k

Product specialist, fixed income

Three to four years: 77.9k

Five to seven years: 81k