Major Roles in Banking
Major job responsibilities
The tasks performed in an Ops role depend on which front office or middle office function it is supporting.
- Assist in the corporate and retail banking business process and settle loans, including collateral management.
- Ensure adherence to regulatory and control limits.
- Onboard new customers to the core banking systems and help with customer exits.
- Report on the work status.
- Handle cash, couriers and security.
- Manage ATMs and cash vaults.
- Monitor transactions and check for signs of money laundering.
- Input data.
- Book and settle trades, confirm trades and conduct reconciliations.
- Effect payments and settlements.
- Provide valuations to external auditors and customers or the back office of counterparties, along with other reporting functions.
- Obtain prices from external providers for middle office market-to-market calculations.
- Issue and transmit trade finance documentation.
- Verify and maintain custody of incoming documentation.
- Execute and settle trades, including confirmations and reconciliations.
- Ensure data used by risk teams is accurate and complete.
- Clean data and populate databases with consistent data.
- Provide data to system implementation teams.
- Participate in IT projects.
- Process payroll and leave management systems.
- Handle new employee onboarding, documentation and due diligence.
- Produce HR reports and maintain HR systems.
Relevant professional qualifications
Professional Qualifications under HKMA’s Enhanced Competency Framework:
Other banking qualifications issued by the HKIB:
Important skills and knowledge
- Ability to manage software for risk management, document retrieval and interbank communications (SWIFT)
- Product knowledge relevant to investment banking and treasury support teams
- Analytical ability to handle numerical data
- Ability to understand impact and significance of risk metrics
A day in the life of an
Operations Specialist
Operations specialists who are not working at the branch should expect to spend the day at their desks.
Typical career path
Operations teams are usually very large and diverse. Therefore, many managerial roles are available for further progress.
Ops team members rarely move into frontline roles, but do tend to move up within Ops.
Ops team leaders can progress from managing small teams to increasingly bigger teams and then to large teams.
Ops specialists may also get the opportunity to work overseas at offshore operations centres, or to supervise offshore functions.
What bankers say
Operations is essential in banks, where we make sure the business runs smoothly. I need to access the specific software to make sure the transaction is processed and executed within specified timelines.
Banking as a challenging and dynamic industry offers vast opportunities. Be curious, proactive and passionate to embrace the challenges to progress.