Profile: George Talary

Position: Senior Compliance Manager

Sometimes in life, it's important to be in the right place at the right time. When the BIS advertised for a compliance officer, I'd spent most of the previous decade working in compliance at a large Swiss bank and the subsidiary of a US global investment bank, mainly in Zurich and London. For me, the BIS position was a dream job and it was gratifying when my application was accepted.

Some months previously, the Basel Committee had issued a paper recommending that banks beef up their compliance functions. And now, in the spirit of a chef eating his own cooking, the BIS was expanding its own compliance unit. So the immediate task, when I joined in December 2005, was to help my boss build a bank-wide compliance structure.

That meant expanding our remit beyond the borders of the Banking Department, the compliance unit's traditional focus. It involved working closely with colleagues from Finance, Corporate Procurement, Human Resources, and the Monetary and Economic Department, among others, to identify any potential gaps in the Bank's compliance laws, rules and standards.

My job is varied and typically involves reviewing potential exceptions to the trading activities of the Banking Department, responding to staff queries on the Bank's Code of Conduct, representing our unit in working groups or committees or drafting discussion documents for senior management. I also run compliance induction courses for all new members of staff.

Over time, the compliance unit has also evolved into a "centre of expertise" on ethical issues that could affect the Bank. I've recently attended the European Business Ethics Forum, which was an excellent opportunity to learn from the experience of a number of leading companies.

I frequently work closely with the BIS's senior management. As I came from an organisation with tens of thousands of employees, this has been a new and welcome experience for me.

On a more personal note, moving to the BIS has allowed me to work as well as live in Basel. Eliminating the long commute to Zurich gives me more time for out-of-hours activities such as taking part in the famous Fasnacht festival. I very much enjoy living in Basel, with its portals into France and Germany. It's a compact city with wide horizons.