Morning Coffee: The new way to quit the Big Four for a well-paid banking job in Hong Kong

Big Four accountants aren't the only ones who can shift their careers into the banking sector. If you work in tax advisory at Deloitte, EY, KMPG or PwC in Hong Kong, you should now consider sending your CV to a bank in the city. And you should also push for a large pay rise if you get a job offer.

Some banks in Hong Kong plan to hire new tax experts into their compliance teams over the next 12 months, reports the South China Morning Post, in response to new Hong Kong Monetary Authority money-laundering guidance on checking new customers for tax-reporting irregularities.

The HKMA rules will require a “significant build” over current compliance staffing levels, Chrisol Correia, a director of global anti-money laundering at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, told the SCMP.

The specialist nature of tax-evasion jobs and the already severe shortage of compliance professionals in Hong Kong means that banks won’t be able to meet all their headcount needs by poaching from each other or by training their existing staff. Tax advisory employees at the Big Four will be a key potential source of new talent, according to a Hong Kong compliance recruiter who asked not to be named.

If you're considering applying for a tax-evasion job at a bank in Hong Kong, expect a pay increase over and above the (already generous) 15% to 20% typically offered to compliance generalists.

Meanwhile:

Hong Kong still lags behind London and Japan as a commodity trading hub. (South China Morning Post)

Standard Chartered tires of email as it encourages staff to use new communication platform. (Diginomica)

Co-chief executives of Deutsche rule out stepping down. (Reuters)

Just 300 more jobs filled in Q1 in Singapore: Cause for concern? (Straits Times)