Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm that conducts its business through three principal business segments - Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management. Morgan Stanley provides comprehensive financial advice and services to its clients including brokerage, investment advisory, financial and wealth planning, credit and lending, deposits and cash management, annuities, insurance, retirement, and trust services.

As a market leader, the talent and passion of our people is critical to our success. Together, we share a common set of values rooted in doing the right thing, putting clients first, leading with exceptional ideas and a commitment to diversity and inclusion. Morgan Stanley can provide a superior foundation for building a professional career – a place for people to learn, achieve, and grow.

Department Profile:
The WM and U.S. Banks Financial Crimes Risk Team is embedded within the Firm’s business line. It is responsible for identifying, assessing, and escalating potential money laundering and reputational risk issues associated with higher risk client types. The WM and U.S. Banks Financial Crimes Risk Team is considered the first line of defense and supports the onboarding, enhanced due diligence, and negative news processes for Morgan Stanley.

Role:
The Vice President, Negative News Research and Investigations Lead will be responsible for overseeing a First Line Negative News and Research Team. This role is pivotal in managing a team responsible for conducting comprehensive research and analysis to enable due diligence requirements for the prospective clients. The successful candidate will drive strategic initiatives, ensure regulatory compliance, perform oversight responsibilities, escalate potential gaps and risks, and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the research processes.

Responsibilities:
- Lead and manage the 1st line Financial Crimes Negative News and Escalation Research Team, providing strategic direction, oversight, mentorship, training, and performance management to ensure the delivery of high-quality, timely reports.
- Oversee research of a wide variety financial and non-financial crimes news to ensure investigative reports adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and consistency.
- Perform quality reviews and approvals for due diligence escalations and reports.
- Collaborate with and influence internal stakeholders, including Business Leaders, 1Line Financial Crimes and Risk teams, Legal and second line compliance, to address risk-relevant matters and integrate findings into client onboarding and Due Diligence reviews.
- Address escalations with Senior Management as well engage in applicable working-groups, forums and or committees.
- Partner with risk and compliance teams to enable client relationships monitoring.
- Manage and produce data, metrics and trend analysis for relevant stakeholders.
- Create and update team procedures and desktop guidance.
- Drive and execute strategic use of third-party research tools and open-source intelligence to support comprehensive investigations for both domestic and international clients.
- Oversee the development and implementation of solutions to streamline research processes and improve efficiency.
- Promote a culture of transformational and continuous improvement, encouraging innovation and the adoption of best practices within the team.
- Stay informed of industry trends and regulatory changes to ensure the team remains at the forefront of research and investigative methodologies.

Ability To:
- Deliver high impact with a high sense of urgency.
- Lead with confidence, and comfort in high-paced, and high-profile environments with minimum supervision.
- Think outside the box (“realm of possibilities”) to propose and deliver appropriate solutions for highly complex challenges.
- Effectively navigate a highly complex and high velocity environment with a wide range of stakeholders.
- Communicate complex matters in a concise, crisp, and action-oriented manner for different sets of stakeholders, including executive management.
- Understand big picture beyond our organization and assess/improve our value-proposition
- Investigate, identify issues, impacts and trends to propose comprehensive solutions.
- Juggle competing critical priorities while demonstrating timely and tangible progress.
- Handle highly confidential information professionally and with appropriate discretion.
- Work in a matrixed organization; leveraging resources across the organization to complete deliverables.

Qualifications:
- Have 7+ years of relevant experience with BSA/AML Regulations within the financial services industry, or at a financial services regulator (e.g., FINRA, Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve Bank, etc.).
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, or other related field; Law degree, legal, prosecutorial experience or advanced degree a plus.
- Expertise in examining potential clients’ source of wealth during the client onboarding process; and/or,
- Extensive experience in research and investigative analysis within the financial services industry, with a proven track record of leadership and team management.
- In-depth knowledge of Financial Crimes regulations e.g., US Patriot Act requirements, and risk management practices.
- Experience with third-party research tools and open-source intelligence is highly desirable as well as knowledge of Generative AI tools.
- Strong leadership qualities with the ability to manage teams and evidence a strong work ethic as well as a high degree of integrity.
- Exceptional analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across departments.

Skills Desired:
- Certified as an Anti-Money Laundering Specialist by ACAMS or equivalent AML certification/license preferred.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MORGAN STANLEY:

We are committed to maintaining the first-class service and high standard of excellence that have defined Morgan Stanley for over 89 years. Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you’ll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There’s also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work.

To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices​ into your browser.

Expected base pay rates for the role will be between $140K-$200K per year at the commencement of employment. However, base pay if hired will be determined on an individualized basis and is only part of the total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, other short and long-term incentive packages, and other Morgan Stanley sponsored benefit programs.

Morgan Stanley's goal is to build and maintain a workforce that is diverse in experience and background but uniform in reflecting our standards of integrity and excellence. Consequently, our recruiting efforts reflect our desire to attract and retain the best and brightest from all talent pools. We want to be the first choice for prospective employees.

It is the policy of the Firm to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, sex stereotype, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, disability, marital and civil partnership/union status, pregnancy, veteran or military service status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversifying its workforce (M/F/Disability/Vet).