Trade Operations Officer

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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.

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Job Summary

Job Description

• Transaction monitoring - proactively manage milestones and ensure applicable trackers/ check lists are adhered to.
• Perform fit for processing checks to ensure the accurate processing of All  Fit For Processing Applications received from the Trade Sales Team -  ensuring all information meets the required standards for all respective trade transactions, including but not limited to  the following checks:
• Know Your Customer (KYC) Checks
• Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Red Flags in accordance with the Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML) & Trade Finance (TF) Standard policy
• Standard / Non Standard Legal wording
• Pricing- Standard and Deviations
• booking deals with Treasury
• Ensure the booking system parameters (Limits, SSIs and client profiles) are in order prior to loan requests being honoured
• For FI and Documentary Trade Specific Products
• Document checking and Negotiation- Review trade documentation required in terms of the various products and analyse and interpret content through effective application of International Chamber of Commerce Guidelines, International Standard Banking Practice and other applicable ICC publications (UCP 600, ISBP, URR725, URDG 758)
• Ensure that all information transcribed from an incoming Letter of Credit to an outgoing message (MT710) is accurate, complete and relevant to the transaction at hand. The transaction needs to be fully understood and all potential risks eliminated prior to the sending of the MT710
• Financial modelling - Ensure that all exposures are accurately recorded on the bank systems (FCC, IMEX and GEMs).
• Bank Limits – Maintain bank limits and exposures on the GEMs system ensuring that information is correct for all FI transactions (oversight of daily excess reporting, bank limit reservations, monthly reporting and limit reviews) for Absa including Centre and Credit engagements
• For Open Accounts Products
• Provide Front & Middle office support – participate in implementation as support to the Front & Middle Office.
• System Administration - Ensure Open Account deals are correctly set up and updated on the relevant bank systems (limits, pricing, supplier and client on boarding, documentation)
• Work with and give input to Front & Middle Office on deal structure requirements to ensure new deals are operationally possible.
• Manage and monitor all third party service providers including but not limited to (Collateral Managers, Insurance, Freight Forwarders, Inspection companies, storers and Traders/Agents) with each drawdown and due dates.
• Adherence to the Trade Management Workflow Tool (TMW)
• Have a good understanding of the underlying commodity and country (market) that is being dealt with on each transaction before transaction is implemented and interlocking with the correct stakeholders to close any gaps on this understanding before deal is implemented. 

Knowledge & Skills:

• Strong Accounting Skills
• Understanding of deal flow processes and rationale behind the procedures
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements i.e. Absa Sanctions policy, Exchange Control Rulings and Policies, Trade Finance Standard Policy
• 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
• Maturity - able to deal with managers
• Performance orientated and client service driven
• Report writing and presentation skills

For FI and Documentary Trade Specific Products

• At least 3 to 5 years’ experience in Trade Finance with specific knowledge of Letters of Credit, Documentary Collections, Trade loans, international payments, Swift and Bank-to-Bank Reimbursements. Knowledge of trade syndications would be an advantage.
• Knowledge of International Chamber of Commerce rulings and publications (UCP 600)
• International Standby Practices (ISP98)
• Knowledge of The ICC Uniform rules for Demand Guarantees (URDG 758)
• Uniform Customs Practices, ISBP International Standard Banking Practice, URR725
• Uniform Rules for Reimbursements, URR 528 Uniform rules for bank to bank reimbursement under doc credits, URC 522
• Uniform rules for documentary collections and INCO terms 2000 ICC rules for interpretation of trade terms)

Education