Product Control is one of the most technically demanding roles in the markets business, combining quantitative pricing knowledge, operational discipline, and commercial awareness. A day in the function spans independent P&L verification, pricing review, and the investigation of any discrepancies between the bank's marks and independent market evidence.
The morning P&L explain
The central task of each morning is producing and explaining the trading book's P&L for the previous day. Product Control takes the change in the book's mark-to-market — the raw P&L — and reconciles it against what should have happened, given observed moves in market risk factors: rates, credit spreads, equity prices, volatility, and FX.
If rates moved by a certain amount and the book has a known DV01, the contribution from rates moves should be approximately that DV01 multiplied by the rate move. Summing contributions across all risk factors should explain the total P&L. What remains unexplained — the 'residual' — is always investigated: it indicates either a booking error, an unmodelled risk, or a valuation issue.
Independent Price Verification
Alongside the P&L explain, Product Control conducts Independent Price Verification (IPV) — checking that the prices used to mark the book are genuinely independent of the traders who booked the positions. For liquid instruments, this means sourcing independent market quotes from Bloomberg, broker screens, or consensus services and comparing them to trader marks. For illiquid or OTC instruments, independent models or dealer polls provide the reference.
Where the independent price differs materially from the trader's mark, Product Control applies a valuation adjustment — reducing the book's reported P&L to reflect the more conservative independent view.
The month-end close
Month-end brings additional pressure: the verified P&L and position valuations feed directly into the bank's financial statements and regulatory capital calculations. Product Control must ensure all positions are marked correctly, all adjustments are applied and documented, and the final P&L is signed off by the required levels of management.
How IPV works for complex structured products, how P&L attribution is structured across different product types, and how Product Control interacts with internal audit and external regulators are explored in Market Mechanics — the complete plain-English guide to how a bank's markets business works.