Qualified Accountant

Bank of America Merrill Lynch currently have an exciting opportunity for a finance associate/Accountant to join a medium sized team (14 people) with responsibility for all elements of Corporate Reporting in the UK.

Primary functions of the team are as follows:
*Month end close including journal preparation to support US close and generate UK GAAP accounts
*Support monthly reporting cycle including reporting pack production, various P&L, expense and balance sheet reviews
*Monthly controls, covering legal entity close controls, suspense account reviews, balance sheet attestation, corporate cost centre review and intercompany break clearance
*Statutory Reporting supporting production of annual financial statements of Regulated and Statutory entities
*Responsibility for production of semi-annual and annual financial statements for a number of SPVs, subsidiaries and structured product issuance vehicles.
*Liaising with external auditors, providing directly and managing supply of auditable support from other functions.
*Provision of financial information for Regulatory Reporting eg SEC and Federal Reserve Bank reporting for EMEA BAML entities.
*Working with UK regulatory reporting team to support FSA return production.
*Assist on wide variety of ad hoc projects, both business and IT, from design, functional requirements, testing, to supporting implementation and procedures documentation. Recent examples include: MLI profitability, legal entity service fees, SAP conversion, Equity Pick Up, Bank Levy and Collateral system replacement.
*Providing financial and accounting input into LEAR process for legal entity actions eg ownership and capital changes.
*Supporting Project Clear - legal entity structure review, main activity is managing dissolution of entities.
*Managing legal entity reference information

The ideal candidate should have the following competencies/experience:

Essential

*Banking client experience
*Degree Level Qualification in a finance/accountancy based degree
*Strong controls mentality
*Ability to apply sound judgement, pursue goals and consistently deliver results
*Demonstrate ability to work in a team, while contributing individually and across other teams
*Ability to self manage and prioritise
*Problem solve with lateral thinking to create solutions
*Provide effective challenge and display confidence to challenge
*Strong communication skills - both written and verbal.
*Flexibility and good negotiations skills
*High level of ownership and attention to detail

Desirable
*Accounting experience either degree level, in current role or part qualified
*UK GAAP Knowledge
*Experience of preparing statutory accounts and liaising with auditors
*General Ledger Experience
*Excel proficiency
*MS Access

Overview of Area

Corporate Reporting is responsible for legal entity management and corporate reporting of the Capital Markets business of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Europe and preparation of statutory accounts of the UK based entities (over 150 legal entities).
The department includes responsibility for daily, weekly and monthly summaries of the business performance and presentations to the various boards under US and UK GAAP, plus several local GAAPs.
It is a high profile department reporting to local senior management, the New York and Charlotte Finance teams and has regular contact with Business Unit Finance, Accounting Policy, Middle Office, Tax, Treasury, Head Office in Charlotte and external audit.
The Corporate Reporting team works closely with Business Unit Finance to ensure the accuracy of the reported results and understand the business flows. The department is part of the central Finance function of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Europe and will provide an excellent over-view of the activities and profitability of key business areas and the accounting/reporting functionality within the Corporation.

Hy-phen Limited is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.

The Adecco Group UK & Ireland is an Equal Opportunities Employer.