Specialist, Accounting & Control

Role Overview

Specialist, Accounting & Control at First Abu Dhabi Bank, responsible for ensuring efficient controls over operational accounting activities and delivering services to internal and external customers.

Role Purpose

Establish and maintain efficient controls over the accounting section's operational activities, identify and resolve workflow and production issues, manage transaction processing and reconciliations across multiple platforms, and escalate risk exposures to management while proposing solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Controls & Compliance

• Ensure efficient controls are applied over operational accounting activities.
• Follow all relevant departmental policies, processes, standard operating procedures, and instructions to carry out work in a controlled and consistent manner.
• Demonstrate compliance to the organization's values and ethics at all times to support establishment of a value-driven culture within the bank.
• Arrange for conducting of unannounced checks on Issuer Services & IPO Section, ensuring that controls are in place on blank cheques and blank certificates and examining the complete cycle of printed and delivered items under Issuer Services Team custody.

Reconciliation & Verification

• Control daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly reconciliations including Interbranch, Sundry, Suspense and Call accounts; ensure escalation of all mismatches.
• Perform account ownership and verification of all internal accounts used by the department by reconciling and reviewing daily, weekly, and monthly reconciliation and reporting of business units' general ledgers and financial status.
• Ensure proper RAG reporting is provided for accounts with mismatches or disputed amounts during monthly Account Ownership Update.
• Be the first contact with the Reconciliation Department on behalf of SSO for reconciliation of Custody, GAM and SFAS accounts on daily and weekly basis; ensure all outstanding items are cleared by following up with concerned departments.
• In charge of daily reconciliations of custody client cash and securities positions as Local and Global Custodians on a variety of systems.
• Auto-match Custody Reconciliation by generating required reports used for reconciliation from various systems; officers download in formulated or protected sheets and the spreadsheet matches automatically data from different system reports.
• Act as Maker/Checker on matching Custody non-automated reconciliation by receiving SWIFT and statements by email and matching with system position reports; results sent for second check by custody operations.
• Act as Maker/Checker on exception reporting produced as a result of breaks in the matching process; makers prepare the report and checkers verify the report before sharing with stakeholders and reporting to SSO management.
• Maintain checklist in the department to ensure all custody reconciliation timelines are adhered to.
• Coordinate with Issuer of Convertible Notes (GMO) and IS for buy-back transactions; ensure that reconciliation of records is conducted on a monthly basis.
• Control data comparison and reconciliation for Issuer Service clients and ensure that original data received from ADX and DFM is uploaded on SRS and Refund for Dividends Distributions and IPO refund data.

Transaction Processing & Accounting

• Manage transactions of SSO-related activities on Core Banking System, ensuring their successful settlement, avoiding loss and penalties to the bank and clients that could cause reputational, financial and operational risk.
• Manage the interest calculation of short-term deposits and long-term deposits related to ADX-listed companies and ensure that interest is paid as per agreement between FAB and ADX and rates are captured correctly in the core banking system.
• Support all non-financial transactions processed through Core Banking System for Issuer Services & Custody Businesses and Asset Management Group.
• Provide services to IS and Custody business and GAM regarding validation of financial transactions on Core Banking System.
• Provide services to IS and Custody business and GAM regarding executing non-financial transactions on Core Banking System.
• Verify account opening documents to meet bank procedures requirements.
• Verify correctness of information captured in core banking system.
• Verify mandates to request amendments on static data and verify correctness of amendments as per customer requests and instructions in terms of bank amendment procedures and checklist.
• Control and verify monthly fees collected by Issuer Services Team for Over-the-Counter Application for unlisted companies; reconcile against SRS reports and ensure fees collected as per signed agreement.
• Assist Issuer Service Section Head on IPO processing by control of accounts reconciliation including main collection, branches collection and refund, as well as funds transfers.

Issue Identification & Risk Management

• Identify and resolve workflow and production issues.
• Address and discuss risk exposure issues in areas where the team acts as independent controller and propose solutions with SSO management.
• Identify risk based on analysis and nature of issues and inquiries arising over a period of time; ensure escalation of identified risks to the concerned authority within the Unit.
• Ensure timely escalation of any identified risk arising from a transaction or event and suggest and implement mitigating actions and controls to safeguard the bank.
• Escalate any identified risk and propose mitigating actions and control procedures to safeguard the bank from financial and reputational risk regarding transactions related to SSO support business.
• Report and escalate issues of concern or risk to the FCIS management.

Quality Assurance & Testing

• Develop and establish measures and testing standards for new applications, products or enhancements to existing applications through their development or product lifecycle.
• Analyse documentation and technical specifications of any new application under deployment or consideration to determine its intended functionality.
• Ensure that testing activities allow applications to meet business requirements and system goals, fulfil end-user requirements, and identify existing and potential issues.

IPO & Independent Control

• Act as independent controller during IPO (Initial Public Offering) to ensure that control aspects are covered by the IS team regarding the Online subscription account, RD matching status reports and IT reports to ensure there are no outstanding applications or funds not executed during the exercise.

Reporting & Analytics

• Assist in the preparation of timely and accurate statements and reports to meet department requirements, policies and quality standards.
• Assist Section Head Accounting and Control in preparing the MIS and KPIs for the Accounting Section.
• Provide MIS and KPI updates to SSO management as per identified intervals.
• Maintain MIS and work volume statistics for accounting team.
• Control the verification report and compare it with daily accounting entries; keep all daily vouchers (source documents) in the fireproof cabinet until transfer to EDMS.

Service Level & Procedure Management

• Ensure that SLAs are adhered to at all times; communicate with business units and service providers if any exceptions are identified.
• Assist Section Head on procedure updates and preparation of SLAs for new services and implementation of existing SLAs with SSO stakeholders and service providers.
• Ensure that preparation and execution of End and Beginning of Month tasks are completed on time.
• Ensure that required documentation is provided for non-financial transactions as per Operation and Accounting manual.

Stakeholder Management & Communication

• Effectively communicate with local and foreign banks, customers and departments within the bank to resolve queries at the earliest and in the most appropriate manner.
• Ensure timely and effective communication is maintained with internal and external customers taking utmost care in protecting the reputation of the bank.
• Meet regularly with Section Head to determine priorities and resolve possible problems and risky areas.
• Liaise with VAT team in relation to the preparation of the VAT treatment memo on SSO processes.
• Liaise with FCD for all financial issues reported to HO and with Administration Department for all movements of fixed assets under SSO books.
• Support Section Head when liaising with FCD for the monthly Account Ownership Review by determining the accuracy and integrity of account balances and assessment of any potential P&L impact of their misstatement.
• Coordinate with Info. Co. and the organizer of delivering documents for filing of all divisions of SSO.

Custody & Asset Management

• Dual custodian of SSO vaults and documents of value.

Team Support & Development

• Maintain professionalism and effective communication with colleagues within the unit and all other departments.
• Adhere to individual duties and responsibilities and support the team to deliver services excellence.
• Induct all new recruits on the complete services offered by SSO, how their role contributes to overall delivery of the operations vision and mission.
• Actively support new initiatives to enhance the process in an efficient manner.
• Supervise the workflow efficiently without compromising on risk and services.
• Provide suggestions for improvement to increase the quality and efficiency of tasks handled resulting in utmost satisfaction to customers (internal and external).
• Maintain professionalism and support the team to deliver services excellence.

Continuous Improvement

• Contribute to the identification of opportunities for continuous improvement and sustainability of systems, processes and practices considering global standards, productivity improvement and cost reduction.

General Responsibilities

• Perform any other functions assigned by Section Head Accounting and Control or line management.
• Accounting team supports the Section Head in their role as ORM and BCP coordinators for SS