EUROPEAN GENERAL COUNSEL – FINANCIAL SERVICES DIVISION recruitment

We are well established global commodity trading firm with a fast growing financial services division encompassing brokerage activities in fixed income, equities, foreign exchange and listed and OTC derivatives.

Presently we are seeking to appoint an experienced lawyer with a compliance background to the newly created position of European General Counsel in our financial services division. Working in our London office and reporting directly to the divisional Managing Director you will be a key participant in the division’s management team and tasked with managing the legal and compliance risks of the business.

The ideal candidate will have:

• Minimum 10 years PQE experience

• At least 4 years in-house experience with an FSA regulated firm

• Regular interaction with (and good contacts) at the FSA

• Proven managerial experience

• Ideally some commercial exposure to the European and US financial services sectors

• Experience negotiating market standard documentation (ISDA, GMSLA, GMRA) and bespoke agreements such as prime brokerage and clearing agreements

Personal qualities we rate highly include:

• Charisma; someone who can command respect and leads by example

• Excellent communication skills

• Being a team player with strong leadership skills

• Ability to advise at a high level and also willing to “roll your sleeves up” and get the job done

• Commitment to your role and your colleagues. You will work alongside a group of individuals who are dedicated to growing a business and ensuring the company and its employees and shareholders all prosper together. 

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Being a trusted advisor to the MD and a key contributor in the management team

• Managing the Compliance and Legal functions (including documentation)

• Holding the FSA CF10 and CF11 SIF registrations

• Management of the relationship with the FSA and other regulators and exchanges

• Preparation of the annual compliance plan

• Oversight of the implementation of the compliance monitoring programme

• Ensure effective anti-money laundering/financial crime due diligence, systems and controls and reviews are in place

• Provision of legal advice to management and oversight of advice from external law firms and other professional advisors

• Oversight of documentation (account opening and third party agreements) including resolving issues and approving (or otherwise) certain documents and accounts

• Keeping up to date with regulatory and legal developments, identifying developments that impact the business and facilitating or taking the appropriate action

All applications will be handled in the strictest confidence.