Last week I watched a programme called “What Britain Earns with Mary Portas”. Although the title suggests that this was a limited look at the earnings of people who are in business with Mary Portas, it was in fact a game attempt to get people to ‘fess up to their salaries. Some were more forthcoming than others – Ms Portas herself was rather coy about her own remuneration – but from a CDD perspective, it did raise an interesting issue.
When a regulated business takes on a client – an individual client – one of the due diligence questions that will almost certainly arise is the client’s occupation and salary. And the regulated business is expected to be able to assess whether the two match – and indeed whether they continue to match over, perhaps, years of a developing financial relationship. But do we all know what is the average salary for, say, a primary school teacher, or a midwife, or a trainee accountant? What should the manager of a large branch of Boots be earning, or a small branch of The Body Shop? How about a senior pilot, or a mid-ranking policeman? Added to that, it seems that the location where the job is done has a significant influence on the salary – and indeed, at the other end of things, on the cost of living. The average London salary, for instance, is almost twice the national average. And then there’s the gender gap. And that’s before you start to think internationally.
In short, keeping up with all of this is probably an (averagely-remunerated) job for several people. But for the regulated sector, it might be wise to do occasional checks on the avowed salaries declared by clients – just in case.
I hate money laundering 