Senior Compliance and Risk Adviser - Financial Crime

Compliance and Risk Team

The firm’s Risk Legal Team, led by the firm’s General Counsel Susan Rosser, includes 12 lawyers and 3 paralegals advising on all aspects of legal risk, including financial crime compliance, claims, complaints, insurance, engagement terms, contracts, data privacy, SRA STaRS compliance and conduct issues and regulatory engagement. The firm’s Director of Compliance and MLCO, Zoe Allen-Robinson, is primarily responsible for ensuring the firm complies with its obligations around anti-money laundering compliance, international sanctions and client suitability/reputational risk issues. She also leads the New Business Intake (NBI) team which includes the Head of NBI, New Business Intake Managers, Senior Compliance Analysts, Compliance Analysts and Compliance Assistants. Zoe is currently on parental leave and her role in being covered by Vivian Mak in our Hong Kong office. There is also a Compliance Partner who is the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO).

We are seeking a Senior Compliance and Risk Adviser with deep expertise in all financial crime compliance matters to support the Director of Compliance and General Counsel and be the first port of call on technical matters relating to AML and sanctions compliance. The Senior Compliance and Risk Adviser should have the experience and credibility to deputize for the Director of Compliance in her absence. Although the focus is on financial crime compliance, where candidates have a desire to broaden their experience to other areas of risk management within the remit of the firm’s General Counsel function, opportunities may be available to do so.

The role will also involve engaging directly with - and from time to time challenging - senior stakeholders across the business to ensure that the right balance is achieved between commercial and regulatory objectives. As support to the Director of Compliance, you will feed into the strategy of the team and our policies and procedures, as well as delivering training to the business and the Compliance team and developing more junior team members of the team. The candidate should be passionate about financial crime compliance and also coaching and mentoring. The Senior Compliance and Risk Counsel will work closely with the Director of Compliance, General Counsel, Director of Risk, MLRO and other lawyers, managers and analysts in the team.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Working with the Director of Compliance, to provide technical leadership on financial crime compliance matters.
• Providing legal advice to fee-earners (including at Partner level) on their financial crime compliance obligations.
• Leading sound and compliant decision making by exercising effective oversight and management to ensure that the firm’s policies and procedures (in all of the jurisdictions where the firm has a presence) are adhered to.
• Be the main point of contact for the New Business Intake team for any escalated queries relating to AML and sanctions compliance.
• Advising on source of wealth and funds due diligence.
• Advising on complex sanctions compliance issues in the UK and internationally.
• Assisting the Director of Compliance in devising the firm’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist (CTF) and sanctions policies and procedures, revision and implementation of the same.
• Supporting the Director of Compliance and General Counsel (COLP) by dealing with mandatory reporting requirements, regulatory audits and ad hoc queries from regulators and auditors.
• Providing AML/CTF and sanctions training across the firm.
• Drafting suspicious activity reports for submission to the National Crime Agency (UK) and other equivalent organisations abroad.
• Where the candidate’s experience and expertise allows, and dependent on business need, an opportunity to provide advice on broader financial crime matters, such as ABC, anti-tax evasion and anti-fraud.
• Demonstrate leadership in respect of risk management awareness, conduct and behaviours and assist the Director of Compliance with embedding a positive culture of compliance across the business.

Skills and experience

• Qualified lawyer likely to have at least 6 years’ experience of advising on AML/ CTF and sanctions legislation and its application.
• Relevant experience may have been gained either in a fee-earning or in-house role; experience of advising on the practical implementation of relevant legal and regulatory requirements in a law firm environment is preferred.
• Ideally experience of working in a large international law firm;
• Experience of advising on international AML/CFT and sanctions legislation in jurisdictions where the firm has operations is desirable.
• Experience of training and developing other people is desirable.

Person specification

• Be able to work with minimal supervision and using own initiative
• Be comfortable with assessing risk and distinguishing between mandatory and discretionary obligations
• Some team leadership/supervision experience preferred
• Be able to motivate and mentor others
• Credible operating at a senior level with strong influencing skills
• Able to work effectively with and build strong relationships with colleagues at all levels across the firm
• Able to articulate difficult messages and decisions to the business through effective communication
• Resilient, flexible in approach and responsive
• Self-motivated and able to take responsibility for taking matters through to completion or resolution