What is position of a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) in a Bank and also describe his duties and responsibilities ?

As part of robust compliance system, banks are required, inter-alia, to have an effective compliance culture, independent corporate compliance function and a strong compliance risk management programme at bank and group level. Such an independent compliance function is required to be headed by a designated Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) selected through a suitable process with an appropriate 'fit and proper' evaluation/selection criteria to manage compliance risk effectively. The CCO shall be a senior executive of the bank, preferably in the rank of a General Manager or an equivalent position, not below two levels from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The CCO is required to have a good understanding of industry and risk management, knowledge of regulations, legal framework, and sensitivity to expectations of supervisors. There should not be any vigilance case or adverse observation from the Reserve Bank of India pending against the candidate identified for the appointment as CCO. The CCO shall have an overall experience of at least 15 years in the banking or financial services, out of which minimum 5 years shall be in the Audit/ Finance/Compliance/Legal/Risk Management functions. The candidate identified for appointment as the CCO should not be more than 55 years of age. The CCO shall have the ability to independently exercise judgment. He should have the freedom and sufficient authority to interact with regulators/supervisors directly and ensure compliance. Duties and Responsibilities These shall include at least the following activities: To apprise the Board and senior management on regulations, rules and standards and any further developments. To provide clarification on any compliance related issues. To conduct assessment of the compliance risk (at least once a year) and to develop a risk-oriented activity plan for compliance assessment. The activity plan should be submitted to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors (ACB) for approval and be made available to the internal audit. To report promptly to the Board/ACB / MD & CEO about any major changes / observations relating to the compliance risk. To periodically report on compliance failures / breaches to the Board/ACB and circulating to the concerned functional heads. To monitor and periodically test compliance by performing sufficient and representative compliance testing. The results of the compliance testing should be placed to Board / ACB/MD & CEO. To examine sustenance of compliance as an integral part of compliance testing and annual compliance assessment exercise. To ensure compliance of Supervisory observations made by RBI and/or any other directions in both letter and spirit in a time bound and sustainable manner. Assessment of policies and procedures. Research on banking laws and consumer protection law. Conducting audit and inspection. Compliance to Risk Management Unit.