A lot to learn, but a lot of non-value added work to be done
Pros
A lot to learn. You will learn about tax considerations/laws in many major markets, as well as the tax treaties between countries. If you haven't already done so in a prior position within the company, you will learn about withholding tax, tax reclaims, tax treaties, investment/fund types, and how all of these things will affect both custody and accounting on a daily basis.
Cons
Despite the fact that State Street is looking to be more "green," far too many teams/groups are still printing non-stop, all in order to create a "paper audit trail." Everything is saved electronically, yet there are rooms filled to the ceiling with paper. You will spend a fair amount of time filing said paper. Working in this position also makes you realize how inadequately trained many people are within the company. Part of my team's responsibility is to answer tax-related inquiries on a daily basis. It is discouraging to learn that many people throughout State Street have absolutely no concept of withholding tax and tax reclaim. There are many resources throughout the intranet that employees can use to research exceptions, yet many refuse to do so. There have been instances where first line managers, officers, and AVP level employees have sent inquiries to my team that could have been answered by simply taking a cusip and imputting it into an internal website.
