Fines risk prompts more compliance

Fears of aggressive fines from the Financial Services Authority have supported rising demand for City roles in areas of compliance, governance and risk.

Some 14 per cent of all new City jobs in October were in those areas, according to figures from the recruitment firm Astbury Marsden. Overall, the number of new financial services jobs increased by 1 per cent from 5,157 in September to 5,231 last month. Of those, 700 were in compliance and related areas.

"We are being told by clients that a lot of these new jobs are being created because the FSA is still taking such an aggressive line on fining organisations that they perceive have gaps in their systems and controls," said Mark Cameron, Astbury Marsden's chief operating officer.