European Finance Observatory

Consulting & Advisory (Financial Services) · related to Financial Services Consultant

Regulatory Consultant (Banking)

Full profileYour role

L3 salary
Not published yetSalary figures open with the salaries section.
Upcoming dated changes
18 changes aheadNext:
Top critical skills
  1. Regulatory change impact assessment
  2. Target operating model design
  3. Trade lifecycle

See all levels

What the role does

A regulatory consultant in banking advises banks on how to meet prudential and conduct rules. Work covers the Basel framework as applied in the EU through the CRR (Capital Requirements Regulation) and CRD (Capital Requirements Directive), operational resilience rules such as DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act), risk and control frameworks, and supervisory findings. The consultant assesses the impact of new rules, designs processes and controls, supports implementation programmes and prepares banks for supervisory reviews, working for consulting firms or in-house regulatory change teams.

Read a day in the life

A day in the life

A typical day mixes rule reading with client work. The morning may begin with a review of a newly published regulatory text or consultation, summarising what changes, for which business lines and from which date. The consultant then joins a client workshop with risk, finance and operations staff to walk through a gap analysis: which requirements are already met, which processes or data are missing, and who owns each gap. After the meeting the findings go into a tracker with actions and owners. In the afternoon the consultant may draft a policy or control description, review a capital calculation process for a credit or operational risk area, or help prepare evidence for a supervisory inspection on ICT (information and communication technology) risk. There is regular contact with the engagement manager to agree priorities and with the client's programme office on timelines. Some time is also spent on proposals and internal training on regulatory developments.

Levels

  1. L1 Starting out 0-2 years
  2. L2 Independent 2-5 years
  3. L3 Senior or specialist 5-9 years
  4. L4 Leads a team or an area 8-14 years
  5. L5 Leads the function 12+ years
Full level descriptions and job titles

The EFO level names are the common scale; job titles differ between employers.

LevelWhat the work looks likeTypical yearsTypical job titles
L1 Starting outResearches rules, summarises regulatory texts, maintains gap and action trackers and drafts slides and documents, learning the Basel framework, CRR and DORA under supervision.0-2Banks: Analyst, Junior Analyst, Associate (asset servicing), Trainee, GraduateAsset servicers: Junior, Specialist (entry), Officer
L2 IndependentOwns a gap analysis or impact assessment for one area, runs client workshops, drafts policies and controls and trains junior colleagues on the relevant rules.2-5Banks: Analyst / Senior Analyst, AssociateAsset servicers: Specialist, Senior Specialist, Senior Officer
L3 Senior or specialistActs as subject expert in a risk or regulatory domain, designs implementation approaches and control frameworks, handles complex supervisory findings and contributes to proposals.5-9Banks: Senior Associate, AVP, Assistant ManagerAsset servicers: Senior Specialist, Expert, Team Lead (small team)
L4 Leads a team or an areaManages regulatory engagements or a practice area, owns budgets and quality, leads client relationships and is the escalation point for delivery and regulatory interpretation issues.8-14Banks: VP, Manager, Senior ManagerAsset servicers: Team Lead, Manager, Head of Section
L5 Leads the functionAccountable for a regulatory and risk consulting practice in a region, sets the offering and priorities, sponsors major programmes and engages with senior executives at client banks.12+Banks: Director, Executive Director, Managing Director, Head of functionAsset servicers: Head of Department, Director

Skills

The percentage is the skill's share of the role; the bars are drawn relative to the anchor skill, which is shown full.

Critical 5

The job cannot be done without these.

Important and supporting skills 17

Important 9

Needed in most positions.

Supporting 5

Help in many positions.

Useful 3

Occasionally useful.

Processes

The work the role takes part in.

What each process covers
  • Capital calculationMainComputing how much capital the bank must hold against its risks.
  • Change and project deliveryMainRunning programmes and projects: plans, budgets, requirements, testing, cutover.
  • Regulatory change managementMainTurning new rules into changes to processes, systems and controls.
  • Securities settlementMainExchanging securities and cash on the agreed date, and fixing failed settlements.
  • Trade capture and bookingMainRecording trades correctly in the bank's systems after execution.
  • Trade confirmation and affirmationMainAgreeing trade details with the counterparty before settlement.
  • Conduct and investor protectionSupportingSuitability, product governance, disclosures and fair treatment of clients.
  • ICT risk and operational resilienceSupportingKeeping systems secure and available, managing incidents and IT third parties.
  • Operational risk and controlsSupportingIdentifying what can go wrong in processes and keeping controls effective.

Where the role concentrates

How AI is changing the role

Reading and summarising long regulatory texts, mapping requirements to policies and drafting gap analyses are tasks where generative AI already saves time, and the European Banking Authority reports banks building governance around such tools.

Read the full assessment

Reading and summarising long regulatory texts, mapping requirements to policies and drafting gap analyses are tasks where generative AI already saves time, and the European Banking Authority reports banks building governance around such tools. The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025 lists analytical thinking and AI and big data among the top skills to grow. Value moves to interpreting rules in context, judging proportionality for a given bank, designing controls that work in practice and advising on the governance of AI under rules such as the EU AI Act. Checking machine-generated summaries becomes part of the job.

Dated changes for this role

Worth knowing

Changes that touch a process this role takes part in as a secondary task.

See all 25 in the Regulatory calendar

Salary snapshot

Salary figures are not published yet

The L3 salary range for this role, with its sources, will appear here when the salaries section opens.

Certifications

Concepts to know

All 24 concepts

Neighbouring roles

Roles that need many of the same skills, by weighted skill overlap, with the skills you would need to add.

Risk Advisory Consultant

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Internal Audit Consultant

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Change Manager (Banking)

41% skill overlap

To add: Learning and capability development, Verbal communication and presenting, Reading organisational and political context

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Process Analyst (Banking)

36% skill overlap

To add: Lean methods and continuous improvement, Cost structure and efficiency levers, Defining and using KPIs

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Programme Manager (Banking)

36% skill overlap

To add: Risk and issue management (RAID), Business case and cost-benefit analysis, Project planning and dependencies

Your role

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Sources

Profile updated 31 Oct 2026.