Vice President – Financial Crimes Risk Intelligence & Assessment Office

About the Role

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm conducting business through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management (WM), and Asset Management segments. The Financial Crimes Policy Engagement and Risk Intelligence & Assessment Office supports the firm’s risk-based financial crimes decisions and policy execution by delivering risk intelligence, policy guidance, and strategic solutions across Wealth Management, E*TRADE, U.S. Banks, and Investment Management. This role focuses on program-wide financial crimes risk identification and assessment, leveraging tools, analytics, and risk intelligence to evaluate datasets, identify trends, and enhance controls.

Responsibilities

• Support and execute the Firm’s First Line Financial Crimes program for WM and U.S. Banks, aligning with strategic direction and performing advisory, governance, and oversight responsibilities.
• Conduct tool-enabled, portfolio/program-level risk assessments and convert data signals into defensible risk decisions and control actions within a risk-based framework.
• Partner with Business, Technology, Compliance, Legal, Operations, and Risk Management teams to translate financial crime risk drivers, typologies, and regulatory expectations into actionable control requirements (e.g., due diligence standards, escalation thresholds, customer risk rating logic).
• Assess Financial Crimes risks for new and existing clients, recommending and communicating risk mitigation action plans with clear documentation and escalation narratives.
• Execute program-wide financial crimes risk assessments across customer types, products/services, delivery channels, and geographies; synthesize results into prioritized insights and measurable mitigation actions.
• Utilize financial crimes tools (e.g., KYC/EDD tooling, case management, adverse media platforms, transaction monitoring alerts) to identify patterns, anomalies, control gaps, and shifts in exposure; convert analytics into risk decisions and client-level action plans.
• Apply investigative background to identify, articulate, and operationalize trends and typologies, incorporating external intelligence (e.g., FinCEN advisories) into monitoring hypotheses and escalation criteria.
• Demonstrate knowledge of U.S. AML/CFT and BSA/AML supervisory expectations, enhancing the Firm’s Financial Crimes program requirements and controls.
• Design and report metrics for First Line Financial Crimes activities, including portfolio risk indicators, trend reporting, and control performance measures.
• Conduct cross-border financial crime risk analysis, evaluating international legal and regulatory expectations and their impact on U.S. AML/KYC requirements.
• Promote innovative risk identification by triangulating typology intelligence, tool outputs, portfolio analytics, and frontline feedback to detect vulnerabilities and emerging threats.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders (Senior Business Leaders, Second Line, Technology, Internal Audit) and cross-functional partners (Compliance, Legal, Operations, data/analytics teams) to align interpretations and drive scalable control enhancements.
• Assist in decision-making for transactions posing Financial Crimes risk, defining escalation pathways and documenting risk acceptance rationale.
• Map international risk considerations to U.S. AML/KYC requirements, designing mitigants and compensating controls for gaps in foreign documentation practices.
• Demonstrate knowledge of beneficial ownership requirements and ownership/control structure analysis, ensuring compliance with U.S. regulations.
• Support responsible adoption of AI-enabled capabilities for financial crimes risk identification, defining use cases, controls, and validation standards.

Requirements

• 7+ years of relevant experience with BSA/AML regulations in financial services or at a financial services regulator (e.g., FINRA, SEC, OCC, Federal Reserve Bank).
• Financial crimes investigative background (e.g., investigations, intelligence-led reviews, complex EDD, suspicious activity typology development) with demonstrated ability to identify and communicate trends/typologies.
• Experience performing Financial Crimes risk assessments for client relationships and thematic reviews, aligned to a risk-based framework.
• Experience implementing and executing Financial Crimes Program requirements, translating regulatory expectations into operationally executable controls and governance routines.
• Knowledge of Financial Crimes laws/regulations and best-practice First Line procedures, including risk-based customer due diligence.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, or related field; Master’s degree in business, finance, law, or related field (preferred).
• ACAMS (CAMS) or equivalent AML certification/license.

Skills

• Ability to operate effectively in a high-paced, high-profile environment.
• Strong analytical, synthesis, and communication skills (verbal and written), including explaining typologies and investigative rationale to non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to translate complex concepts into actionable outcomes (e.g., tool outputs into control enhancements, escalation thresholds).
• Leadership and influence without direct authority; strong work ethic, integrity, and discretion with confidential information.
• Innovative thinking within a risk-based framework—formulating hypotheses, testing typology signals, and using multiple methods to identify financial crimes risk.
• Strong time management and planning skills; high proficiency in MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Access).
• Comfort working with large datasets and analytical outputs, translating analytics into clear risk actions; ability to partner with data/analytics teams.
• Exposure to AI applications/concepts for financial crimes, including understanding limitations (data quality, bias, explainability) and governance needs.
• Continuous improvement mindset—identifying opportunities to enhance tool usage, streamline investigative decisioning, and strengthen risk detection.
• Familiarity with external typologies and regulatory intelligence (e.g., FinCEN advisories).