James Drinan is currently working as a Regulatory Compliance Manager in the Retail Financial Services Division of Bank of Ireland. James speaks to us about his role in the Bank and gives us his thoughts on the ACOI.
Why did you pick regulatory compliance as a career? and how did you become aware of the ACOI?
Good question! I suppose it was process of osmosis really! I initially joined Bank of Ireland to work in a Tax Compliance role which was part of a new Group Regulatory and Operational Risk Department. As the department evolved I became more and more involved in regulatory compliance issues and I suppose it was a natural step for me to start looking at what qualifications my colleagues were getting in relation to regulatory compliance and that's how I found my way into the ACOI.
What do you do and how has the LCOI qualification helped you in your current role?
I currently work in a divisional regulatory compliance role in the Retail Division of Bank of Ireland. I suppose the best way to describe my role at Division is to ensure consistency of regulatory compliance approach across the division and provide advice and support to the various compliance teams in the Retail business units. The role is challenging in that you need to be very aware of the current regulatory environment and what the future one might look like! and the overall impact of regulation on how we do business. To me the LCOI qualification not only provides the grounding on the existing regulations, legislation and codes but also how to approach and analyse such regulation and assess its impact on business.
As a member, what does the ACOI mean to you?
Initially I would have seen the ACOI as my way of getting the appropriate qualifications required to work in a Regulatory Compliance role. I suppose I now see it as having a role of providing ongoing education and support to its members...which also helps me get those all important CPD hours!
I know you are a member of one of ACOI working group, what is that like?
Getting involved with a working group in the ACOI has been great. While it is not one of the many technical working groups that the ACOI has, the Membership and Events committee does discuss very interesting issues in relation to the day to day running of the ACOI, important items like membership vetting and the many member events organised throughout the year including the all important annual ACOI golf outing! We also like to feel that we provide great support to our Chief Executive Martin Murray!