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Fancy a Data Related Job at a Regulator…?

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Part of the unlucky few facing job and spending cuts in the data management sector? Employee at a data management solution vendor or ratings agency that has fallen on hard times? Why not trade it all in for a (potentially) more secure job and a guaranteed pension by applying for a data focused role at the Committee of European Securities Regulators…?

The regulatory community has spent the last couple of years recruiting from the practitioner community in a bid to keep its finger closer to the pulse of the financial markets. The focus, thus far, has largely been on finding those within the risk management function, but data management seems to be rising up the ‘most wanted’ list. To this end, this month, CESR has put out a job spec for two positions on the credit ratings team.

The regulator is looking for two individuals with at least three years of experience in the credit ratings agency sector and, potentially, some experience within the risk management, compliance or audit functions (although this isn’t required). Surprisingly, the ad doesn’t include the data management function directly as a desirable area of specialism, but perhaps this is merely an oversight by the overseer.

The candidates must also seemingly share in the vision of the regulator and subscribe to the objectives of the EU, mystical and fuzzily defined as they are at the moment.

The requirement for new staff must be fairly urgent, however, as the regulator wants successful candidates to start ASAP. After all, the EU Regulation on Credit Rating Agencies came into force last December and although there has been a lot of sound and fury on the subject, little action has been taken thus far.

CESR produced a consultation paper on proposals for credit ratings agencies registration back in June and, no doubt, new recruits will be deployed to put these into practice. CESR is being rather prescriptive about the data it is requiring these ratings agencies to provide to their national regulators in order to ensure that full transparency into their practices is achieved. It is also mandating on site visits by home and host regulators to these individual firms in order to ensure they are kept in line and living up to their purported risk management practices. The European level regulator will, in turn, need to keep these national regulators in line with regards to ensuring these new data standards are put into practice, as well as processing all the registration data.

The job spec notes: “CESR is expected to discharge important coordination and advisory functions in the area of credit ratings agencies as well as its traditional role of promoting convergence through Level 3 guidelines and recommendations.”

So, if you’re and EEA citizen, fluent in English and fancy moving to Paris, we suggest you apply…

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