Not long ago, regulatory reporting was boring. Ranked on a par with watching paint dry or interacting with gerbils, it was not sexy. A high proportion of its practitioners were contract workers, able to offset the tedium with the thought of lucrative day rates.

This is no longer so. Suddenly regulatory reporting, and the subset of regulatory capital reporting, has become hot.

“We’re starting to see people come to us and say, “We need regulatory capital expertise,” says one recruiter who preferred not to be named. “Institutions have low reserves and want to be clever about how they manage and classify their capital order to present the best scenario possible,” he adds.

Neil Owen of Robert Half confirms the trend. “Capital adequacy and liquidity adequacy reporting have become big issues over the past 12-18 months. Instead of simply having people who can follow a process, banks are looking for accountants with good investigative skills.”

Owen says most of those going into regulatory reporting are “strong technical accountants with a background in IFRS.”

The unnamed recruiter says they’re likely to come from a financial control role: “These people need to understand capital ratios and how to manage assets and liabilities effectively.”

Pay is comparatively modest by the standards of the front office, but generous by the standards of anything outside banking: a VP with five years’ experience can expect a salary of £75-100k. Bonuses can be as high as 60%, but are more likely to be in the region of 25%.