Compliance interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about a project where you owned a compliance review, a control gap, or a regulatory response end-to-end.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why buy-side compliance — why not legal, banking compliance, the front office, or audit?
5. Monitoring + surveillance, advisory, Code of Ethics, marketing review, or regulatory reporting — which seat appeals, and why?
6. Why the firm?
7. How would you describe the firm's compliance programme and where you'd add value?
8. What recent regulatory programme or change has affected the firm's compliance function, and how would you have approached it?

Technical concepts to master

• Code of Ethics + personal trading (Rule 204A-1)

  Access person definition · Pre-clearance + blackout windows · Quarterly transaction + annual holdings reports · Gifts + entertainment + outside activities

• SEC Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)-1)

  General prohibitions · Performance presentation · Testimonials + endorsements · Recordkeeping + books + records

• MNPI + information barriers

  MNPI definition · Restricted list + watch list · Information barriers + wall-crossings · Expert network + chaperoning policy

• Regulatory reporting calendar — buy-side

  Form ADV — annual updating amendment · 13F + 13D / 13G · Form PF · Form N-PX + N-CSR (40 Act funds) · MiFIR transaction reporting + Annex IV + SFDR

Practical drills

• A PM had a paid expert-network call with a former VP of Engineering at a public software company. The expert mentioned 'we're behind schedule on the next major release, probably a Q3 announcement instead of Q2'. The PM tells you the next morning. Walk me through how you'd handle it.
• The marketing team submits a draft pitchbook for the firm's flagship US Large Cap Growth fund. It includes: (a) the line 'Consistently top-quartile performance vs the Russell 1000 Growth over 5 years'; (b) a chart showing 3-year cumulative returns net of fees; (c) a quote from an institutional consultant calling the strategy 'best-in-class'. Walk me through your review.
• An access person submits a pre-clearance request to buy 1,000 shares of a mid-cap industrials name at ~$50 ($50k position). The firm's flagship US Equity fund last traded the name 4 days ago (a buy of 100,000 shares); the trading desk has no pending orders. The firm's blackout window is 7 days before and after firm trading. The de-minimis exemption is < 0.01% of issuer market cap (this issuer is $5bn cap, so 0.01% = $500k). The access person is a senior analyst on the industrials sector. Walk me through your decision.

Smart-question anchors

• Programme structure + leadership — CCO reporting line, deputy structure, three-lines-of-defence relationships
• Regulatory agenda — Marketing Rule, SFDR, Consumer Duty, T+1, ESG fund naming, upcoming regulatory priorities
• Surveillance + monitoring stack — vendor systems, alert calibration, exception triage approach
• Code of Ethics + personal trading — programme scope, blackout mechanics, recent exception trends
• Recent regulatory exams or findings — SEC / FCA exam takeaways, remediation status, peer-firm enforcement

Sourced from

SEC — Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Rule 206(4)-7, Rule 204A-1, Rule 206(4)-1, Rule 206(4)-6) · FCA Handbook — SYSC, COBS, MAR (UK) · ESMA — MiFID II / MiFIR + UCITS + AIFMD guidance · Wall Street Oasis + Mergers & Inquisitions — Compliance / Asset Management interview threads · Investment Adviser Association (IAA) + ACA Group — Compliance Programme Guides