Trade Surveillance Principal Associate (Broker-Dealer & Swap Dealer)
About the Role
We are seeking a highly analytical and investigative Trade Surveillance Principal Associate to play a key role in executing and enhancing Capital One’s Commercial Banking market conduct surveillance program across both its institutional Broker-Dealer (BD) and Swap Dealer (SD) businesses. This individual will conduct day-to-day surveillance monitoring, lead deep-dive investigations into complex trading activity, and ensure ongoing compliance with SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) and NFA (National Futures Association) regulatory requirements and regulatory expectation.
The ideal candidate will bring strong product and market-conduct knowledge across exchange-traded futures and commodities markets. Experience with other asset classes, including Interest Rates, FX, Equities, and Fixed Income is preferred. The candidate should demonstrate robust analytical and investigative capabilities, sound judgment, and a proven track record of handling complex trade investigations within a highly regulated trading environment.
Responsibilities
Advanced Market Abuse Investigation & Alert Review
- Targeted Alert Dispositioning: Execute daily surveillance reviews and complex alert analyses for both Broker-Dealer and Swap Dealer trading activities, focusing heavily on identifying potential market abuse.
- Core Scenario Coverage: analyze cross-market execution data to detect, evaluate, and disposition core manipulative patterns, including:Spoofing & Layering, Wash Trading, Quote Stuffing, Front-Running: Pinging, Escalation Management:
- Formally escalate high-risk trading anomalies and potential regulatory breaches to Compliance management in accordance with the firm’s escalation matrix.
Program Support & Parameter Calibration
- Assist management in the ongoing maintenance and optimization of surveillance procedures, alert logic, and parameter settings within vendor platforms.
- Participate in lookback reviews, scenario testing, and calibration exercises to reduce false positives while maintaining robust risk coverage.
Data Integrity & Systems Reconciliation
- Perform periodic data completeness and accuracy checks for both BD and SD surveillance feeds.
- Conduct reconciliations between trading systems of record and the trade surveillance platform, identifying and tracking data gaps or ingestion exceptions to resolution.
- Support User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for new surveillance models, system upgrades, and product launches.
Documentation & Reporting
- Maintain comprehensive, audit-ready documentation of all alert reviews, ensuring defensive closing rationales and rigorous evidentiary trails.
- Assist in the aggregation of weekly and monthly surveillance metrics and reporting for senior management.
Regulatory Inquiry & Audit Support
- Gather documentation and perform initial analysis to support responses for internal audits and regulatory inquiries/examinations (SEC, FINRA, CFTC, NFA).
Collaboration
- Collaborate effectively with Compliance Advisory, Product, Technology, Risk, and Line of Business to resolve compliance issues.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Mathematics, Statistics, Science, Engineering, Quantitative field, or military experience
- At least 3 years of trade surveillance, or market regulation, or At least 3 years of compliance experience within a Broker-Dealer or Swap-Dealer environment.
Preferred Qualifications
- Regulatory Knowledge: Strong understanding of SEC, FINRA, CFTC, and NFA rules governing market conduct, manipulation, and trade reporting.
- Systems Experience: Hands-on experience utilizing rule-based surveillance platforms (NICE Actimize, Eventus Validus, FIS Protegent).
- Product Depth: Familiarity with OTC swaps (IRS, FX, Commodities) and traditional securities (Equities, Fixed Income).
- Certifications: Relevant industry certifications or progress toward them (FINRA Series 7, NFA Swap Dealer Associated Person proficiency testing).
- Skills: Excellent analytical problem-solving skills, strong written communication for drafting investigative summaries, leveraging AI and emerging technologies to optimize surveillance workflows and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
At this time, Capital One will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization for this position.
The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.
McLean, VA: $120,800 - $137,900 for Compliance Advisory Specialist III
New York, NY: $131,800 - $150,500 for Compliance Advisory Specialist III
Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.
This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non discretionary depending on the plan.
Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well-being. Learn more at the Capital One Careers website. Eligibility varies based on full or part-time status, exempt or non-exempt status, and management level.
This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.
No agencies please. Capital One is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, including disability/vet) committed to non-discrimination in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Capital One promotes a drug-free workplace. Capital One will consider for employment qualified applicants with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws regarding criminal background inquiries, including, to the extent applicable, Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law; San Francisco, California Police Code Article 49, Sections 4901-4920; New York City’s Fair Chance Act; Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Act; and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding criminal background inquiries.
If you have visited our website in search of information on employment opportunities or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Capital One Recruiting at 1-800-304-9102 or via email at RecruitingAccommodation@capitalone.com. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.
For technical support or questions about Capital One's recruiting process, please send an email to Careers@capitalone.com
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Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).