Legal Counsel — Citi Transaction Services recruitment
Job Purpose:
To assist the Director and Head of Trade Legal for Citi Transaction Services EMEA in providing legal support to the Citi Transaction Services (CTS) EMEA Trade Business. CTS EMEA Trade forms part of the CTS EMEA Treasury and Trade Solutions Department within CTS EMEA.
Job Background/context:
The Citi Transaction Services Legal Department comprises a team of 17 lawyers (including the Head of CTS EMEA Legal) together supporting the CTS businesses (consisting of Securities and Funds Services and Treasury and Trade Solutions). The lawyers in the department are experienced lawyers - currently 11 supporting Securities and Funds Services and 6 supporting Treasury and Trade Solutions. Secondees from major City law firms supplement the Department.
The lawyer will report directly to the Head of Trade Legal for EMEA in the Citi Transaction Services EMEA Legal Department which is part of the General Counsel's Office. The lawyer's line manager will be Philip Shaw.
The role will involve an active engagement with the business area - Trade Services and Trade Finance (principally out of London and Dublin product centres but there will also be daily interaction with the rest of the EMEA region, New York and Asia).
Key Responsibilities:
- To give advice and legal expertise on business development for this fast growing area
- Advising on new trade structures and the legal risks (and how best to mitigate these)
- Negotiation of product documentation with CTS customers
- Co-ordinating multi-jurisdictional transactions and periodic assistance with Asia and US Legal
- Advising the business on bank policy matters.
- Negotiation with and instruction of external legal counsel and clients where necessary and acting as liaison between external advisers and the business.
- Assisting the business to develop new products
- Advising on legal and regulatory developments relevant to Trade
- Advising on the various governing rules applicable to certain Trade Services (e.g. UCP 600, ISP 98, URDG etc) and assis with Trade related queries
- Generally support the CTS EMEA Trade Business
- Some travel may be required.
Development Value:
The Trade area within Citi and in particular within CTS EMEA is international, extremely varied, overlaps with other product areas and is growing rapidly and the successful candidate will be instrumental in helping and guiding this growth. Specifically the group is expanding and the new candidate will be able to assist with the development of new products and advise on a variety of existing products and structures in numerous jurisditions (including assisting with the instruction of external counsel where necessary).
Skills
Knowledge/Experience:
- Strong post-qualified experience necessary
- Ideally have experience of a variety of trade finance transactions and structures with a good knowledge of commodity trade finance, letters of credit (including governing rules) and types of Bank security.
- Experience advising and supporting clients from a legal perspective and proven experience in providing legal support for transactions - particularly those in the emerging markets.
- Experience of LMA Standard documentation and some of the following trade governing rules would be beneficial:
- UCP 600
- ISP 98
- URDG
Skills:
- Good communicator.
- Effective and enthusiastic team player.
- Practical approach to problem solving.
- Appreciation of commercial environment between Bank and customer.
- Ability to manage an active caseload and prioritise effectively.
- Flexible.
- Ability to work effectively with all levels of the organisation (from the most junior to the most senior).
- Excellent IT skills - including Word and Outlook.
Qualifications:
- Strong academic qualifications.
- Legal qualification (Solicitor or equivalent) mandatory.
- Experience in a major City law firm and/or financial institution.
Exceptional candidates who do not meet these criteria may be considered for the role provided they have the necessary skills and experience.
Competencies:
- Highly organised and able to quickly assess project viability.
Valuing diversity. Demonstrates an appreciation of a diverse workforce. Appreciates differences in style or perspective and uses differences to add value to decisions or actions and organizational success.