Pros
The only positive thing about this awful place are the fellow KYC analysts. The analysts here are by and large friendly, helpful and fun to hang out with.
Cons
There are two main cons: 1. The toxic work culture and terrible management. No words can adequately describe how horrible it is working for such incompetent and nasty bullies. The KYC heads are at their positions by virtue of having outlasted everyone else, not because their expertise or management skills. The department head and deputy do not know what they are doing and rely deeply on the KYC heads for every single thing. This probably explains why the KYC heads have not been fired despite their incompetence. The management tries to normalise the toxic work culture but there are signs that are pretty telling : - Micromanagement: The management and KYC heads are extreme micromanagers. Pre-covid, they walk around to check that people are working and take note of how frequently or how long breaks are taken. As part of the team works at home now due to the pandemic, the management wants everyone to set their online status as Active so that they can monitor when people become Inactive. At one point there was even a suggestion to make everyone turn on their webcam so that the management can check that people are working. - Obsession with keeping time: Work hours are strict with a one-hour lunch break. Coming in 3 minutes late earns you a reminder from your team lead to stay 3 mins later to "make up" for the lateness. A 1 hour and 10 mins lunch earns you a talking-to from the team lead. - Bizarre obsession with KPIs: Every business has KPIs and usually for a purpose. In CACIB however, the KPIs are poorly designed (it measures the volume of work TRANSMITTED, not completed) and the management and team heads are bizarrely focused on the KPIs even though it does not contribute to the end outcome. There are KYC analysts who simply change one random line in a file and transmit it to the next queue. This counts towards fulfilling their KPI, although arguably it does not help the bank be more compliant in meeting KYC requirements. - The high turnover rate. Every month 2 or 3 people resigns from the teams, even in this poor economic climate 2. Lack of career progression: This is basically a dead-end job. The work is mundane and the processes antiquated. Anyone who comes in to do this role must be aware that it is basically just documents compilation and data entry. Do this long enough and you may be promoted to KYC controller, which means you check KYC analyst's work. There is basically no useful technical skills or transferrable soft skills that you can hone, which means the longer you stay, the more unemployable you become outside the bank. To verify this, take a look at Linkedin for people who were previously KYC analysts at this bank. They likely move onto other places, also as KYC analyst.