Compliance interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about a compliance review, control gap, or regulatory response you owned end-to-end.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why payments + fintech compliance — why not bank compliance, asset-management compliance, legal, or the front office?
5. BSA / AML + sanctions, consumer-protection, licensing + state MTL, scheme + PCI, or sponsor-bank oversight — which seat appeals, and why?
6. Why the firm?
7. How would you describe the firm's compliance programme + regulatory perimeter in your own words?
8. What recent regulatory programme or change has touched the firm, and how would you have approached it?

Technical concepts to master

• BSA / AML + sanctions fundamentals

  KYC + CDD + EDD + UBO · Transaction monitoring + SAR + STOR · OFAC + UK OFSI + EU sanctions screening · Travel Rule + Beneficial Ownership + CTA

• Consumer protection + UDAAP + Reg E / Reg Z + Consumer Duty

  UDAAP — Unfair, Deceptive, Abusive · Reg E + EFTA error resolution · Reg Z + TILA disclosures · UK FCA Consumer Duty

• Card-scheme rules + PCI-DSS posture

  Chargeback + fraud-to-sales monitoring tiers · PCI-DSS v4.0 scope + SAQ + QSA · BIN sponsor + Bank Service Company Act · Network rules + reason codes + representment

• Licensing + sponsor-bank oversight

  Licensing perimeter — MSB + MTL + EMI + API + CASP · Sponsor-bank oversight + BaaS programme cadence · Three-lines-of-defence + independent testing · Regulator + sponsor + scheme engagement

Practical drills

• the firm is launching a new cross-border remittance corridor from the US to a higher-risk geography in 90 days. Volumes projected at $20m / month, average ticket $400, consumer + small-business mix. Walk me through the BSA / AML + sanctions programme you'd build pre-launch.
• A real-time screen flags a $480k cross-border payment to a high-risk corridor as a potential OFAC SDN match — a 50% partial-name hit on the beneficiary. The merchant is escalating commercial urgency (cargo on the dock). Walk me through how you handle it.
• The marketing team submits a new BNPL landing page. Headline: '0% APR, no fees, ever.' Product: 4-payment Pay-in-4 plan (no interest, $7 late fee after 10-day grace); a longer-tenor 12-month plan at 19.99% APR + $30 origination fee on a $1,000 purchase. Walk through the review + run the numbers.

Smart-question anchors

• Sub-function + scope — which compliance sub-function the role would own + the perimeter + escalation pathways
• Programme + sponsor-bank cadence — review pack rhythm, finding closure, sponsor-relationship posture
• Regulatory agenda — CFPB 1033, Consumer Duty, DORA, MiCA, PSD3 / PSR, AI Act exposure
• Sanctions + financial-crime stack — KYC / IDV / screening / monitoring vendors, alert + investigator productivity
• Licensing footprint — MSB + MTL + EMI + API + CASP perimeter + change-in-product expansion plans

Sourced from

FinCEN — BSA + MSB guidance + SAR + CTR framework · OFAC — US sanctions framework + enforcement guidance · CFPB — UDAAP, Reg E, Reg Z, prepaid + larger-participant rules · FCA Handbook + Payment Services Regulations + Consumer Duty (PS22/9) · EBA + PSD2 + 6AMLD + MiCA — EU regulatory framework · PCI Security Standards Council + scheme rule frameworks · ACAMS + ACFE + InterviewPrep — financial-crime interview canon