Risk Executive, Natural Resources, Oil & Gas. recruitment

Overview

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is seeking to hire an experienced Risk Executive with a natural resources background to join the London team.

The Commonwealth Bank is one of Australia’s leading providers of integrated financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, life insurance, broking services and insurance services. The Bank has over 45,000 employees in Australasia, Europe and North America; a market capitalisation of over A$70bln; and has maintained its AA credit rating through the recent financial crisis. The Bank has had operations in London since 1913, and the office currently provides specialist investment, advisory and financial services to our clients across Europe.

Institutional Banking Markets (IBM) is responsible for the provision of products and services to nearly 3,000 major corporate, institutional and government clients to optimise our clients’ capital structure and related financial flows. The Natural Resource Group in IBM engages with clients and projects across the Metals Mining and Oil Gas sectors and co-ordinates the efforts of IBM within these industries.

The Oil Gas Team in London was set up in October 2010, with the aim of leveraging off the Bank’s significant knowledge and understanding of the industry to develop a long-term presence in Europe through the formation of relationships with oil and gas clients across the industry. The team has rapidly gained respect in the London market, and has developed a portfolio of clients ranging from small independents to integrated majors, and transactions ranging from single field development finance, and other reserve-based lending products, to balance sheet-driven revolving credit facilities.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Role

The successful candidate will support existing and new lending assets originated via Natural Resources industry team but also involvement in a variety of other divisions. The role requires early engagement with business units and external clients to assess and assist in structuring credit proposals. Such proposals will typically be of project finance/ borrowing base nature. The role will carry an individual approval delegation. 

The role requires that the successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Providing transaction analysis and structuring advice on new business opportunities.

• Working with product specialists to review due diligence material and prepare credit submissions for formal decisioning.

• Recommend and where within individual delegations decision credit submissions

• Provide assistance to the client and product teams on the development of product industry strategies. 

• Provide specialist advice and input at IBM Review Panel, Executive Risk Committee and Risk Committee (as required) to IBM.

• Understand relevant industry issues of the UK and European markets (in particular Natural Resource sector) which might impact on external and internal credit environments affecting credit quality and recommend appropriate changes to systems and/or policies and provide specialist industry advice to other areas of RM

• Provide ongoing portfolio management role, i.e. dealing with annual reviews, waiver requests etc.

Candidate Profile

Essential:

• Fluent English – spoken and written.

• Degree in Business, Finance, Legal, or Engineering.

• Credit decisioning experience (inclusive of delegated lending authority) in Natural Resources obtained at a major financial institution.

• Sound understanding of documentation and legal framework. 

• Experience working in the Natural Resources project finance area of a bank with experience of assessing and scoping technical due diligence requirements for oil and gas projects. Exposure to different reserve classification and estimation techniques.

• Sound understanding of the Natural Resources industries, particularly oil and gas, and the key drivers affecting the industries.

• Product knowledge across project finance, corporate lending, credit and treasury.

• Strong interpersonal and negotiation skills.

• Right to work in UK: Only applicants with the right to work in the UK will be considered for interview.

Desirable

• Post graduate qualifications.

• Fluency in other major European languages would be useful.