As a Risk Analyst at Union Bank, you play a vital role in safeguarding the financial institution's capital, assets, and reputation. Working within the risk management division, you are responsible for identifying, measuring, and mitigating exposures across the bank's diverse portfolios. Your work directly impacts the bank's strategic decision-making, ensuring that business lines operate within established risk tolerances while optimizing financial performance.

In this role, you will focus heavily on Market Risk and Corporate Banking exposures. You will monitor key metrics such as Value at Risk (VaR), DV01, and Foreign Exchange (FX) exposure on a daily basis. By providing robust qualitative and quantitative assessments, you help the bank navigate complex market environments and maintain regulatory compliance. This position acts as a critical bridge between first-line business units and senior executives, ensuring that risk insights are translated into actionable business limits.

What makes this position highly engaging is the scale and complexity of the portfolios you will analyze. From treasury products and interest rate instruments to wholesale banking loans, you will gain exposure to a broad spectrum of financial assets. Your analytical rigor and ability to build robust risk infrastructure using tools like Excel and VBA will directly support the bank's stability and growth in a highly regulated financial landscape.

The questions you will face during the Union Bank interview process are designed to evaluate both your technical proficiency and your behavioral alignment with the bank's collaborative culture. While the hiring team values your quantitative capabilities, they place an equal emphasis on your personality, communication style, and long-term potential.

The following questions are representative of what candidates have experienced in real interviews for the Risk Analyst position.

Market Risk & Quantitative Concepts

These questions test your understanding of fundamental risk metrics, financial products, and the mathematical frameworks used to measure portfolio exposure.

• Explain the concept of Value at Risk (VaR). What are its primary limitations in a stressed market environment?

Preparing for an interview at Union Bank requires a balanced approach. You must demonstrate deep technical competency while remaining highly approachable, collaborative, and professional.

To stand out, align your preparation with the key criteria the hiring team evaluates:

Role-Related Knowledge – You must demonstrate a firm grasp of market risk methodologies, treasury products, and quantitative disciplines. Be ready to discuss the mechanics of Rates, FX, and Loans, as well as how macro-economic factors influence portfolio risk.

Problem-Solving & Analytical Rigor – Interviewers want to see how you structure your thoughts when faced with ambiguous data or complex risk scenarios. Focus on explaining your methodology, assumptions, and how you validate your findings.

Communication & Stakeholder Management – As a Risk Analyst, you will regularly liaise with first-line traders, senior executives, and Head Office representatives. You must prove that you can communicate complex financial metrics clearly, diplomatically, and persuasively.

Potential & Adaptability – Especially in early-career roles, Union Bank hiring managers look closely at your growth mindset and personality. Showing enthusiasm for learning new risk platforms and adapting to shifting regulatory landscapes is highly valued.

The interview process for the Risk Analyst position at Union Bank is designed to evaluate your technical foundation, presentation skills, and cultural fit. Candidates should anticipate a multi-stage process that can move at a deliberate pace, sometimes taking several weeks to complete.

The process typically begins with an initial HR phone screening to review your background, salary expectations, and work authorization. This is followed by a series of technical and behavioral interviews with the hiring manager and team members. For senior or specialized roles, you may also be asked to prepare a brief presentation on a core risk topic, such as capital and liquidity, prior to your final onsite panel interviews.

The timeline above outlines the standard progression from your initial contact to the final offer stage. While the process is thorough, candidates frequently note that the team members and hiring managers are exceptionally supportive and collaborative throughout. Use this timeline to pace your preparation, ensuring you allocate sufficient time to practice both your technical explanations and your presentation delivery.

To succeed in the Union Bank interview, you must perform consistently across several core evaluation areas. The hiring team uses these categories to assess your readiness for the day-to-day demands of the role.

Market Risk Metrics & Portfolio Analysis

This area evaluates your theoretical and practical understanding of how market risk is measured, monitored, and reported within a corporate banking environment.

Be ready to go over:

• Risk Metrics – Deep understanding of VaR, DV01, and stress testing methodologies.
• Product Knowledge – The valuation and risk characteristics of wholesale banking and treasury products (Rates, FX, and Loans).
• Limit Monitoring – How to establish, monitor, and document daily adherence to approved market risk limits.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Portfolio diversification effects, correlation breakdowns during market crises, and the impact of interest rate fluctuations on net interest income.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you design a stress-testing scenario for a portfolio heavily concentrated in foreign exchange options?"
• "What qualitative risk factors would you consider when evaluating a country risk limit increase?"

Technical Execution (Excel & VBA)

Because you will contribute to maintaining and improving the branch's risk infrastructure, your hands-on programming and modeling skills in Excel and VBA are heavily tested.

Be ready to go over:

• Automation – Writing clean, efficient VBA code to automate daily risk reporting and data aggregation.
• Data Analysis – Utilizing advanced Excel functions (index/match, array formulas, power query) to manipulate large datasets.
• Troubleshooting – Identifying and resolving errors in legacy spreadsheets and risk models.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Integrating Excel models with external databases or risk management platforms via APIs.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through how you would debug a VBA macro that keeps crashing due to memory limitations."
• "How would you structure a spreadsheet to ensure it remains auditable and user-friendly for other team members?"

Capital, Liquidity & Regulatory Frameworks

For certain risk tracks, you must show that you understand the broader regulatory environment in which Union Bank operates.

Be ready to go over:

• Regulatory Frameworks – Familiarity with local and international regulatory requirements (e.g., PRA, Basel III).
• Liquidity Metrics – Understanding Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR).
• Capital Adequacy – How banks manage capital buffers to absorb unexpected losses.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "What are the primary drivers of liquidity risk during a systemic banking crisis?"
• "How does capital management support the overall risk appetite of a corporate banking branch?"