Senior Legal Counsel in London

Fnality is building the future of financial market infrastructure – creating regulated, blockchain-based payment systems to power tomorrow’s wholesale banking ecosystem. Backed by leading global banks and operating at the intersection of technology, finance, and regulation, we are powering the future of finance, together.

Working at Fnality:

• Be your best: We have a supportive culture that helps to bring the best out of each and every single one of our employees.
• Feel free to explore: Bring your new ideas and help us to solve problems together by joining a community of experts.
• Be part of something bigger: We will support you by fostering an open, honest culture, that enables flexibility and wellbeing.
• Feel empowered: We want you to feel empowered. The nature of our business can help make this a reality.

Please note: We operate as a hybrid business with offices in London and Connecticut. You will be expected to work onsite 2–4 times per month in either location.

The Role:

This Senior Legal Counsel role sits within our Group Legal department and will be fundamental to the success of the Fnality Group and its business as the operator of a global network of regulated DLT-enabled payment systems and supplier of related technology products and services to market participants. We are looking for someone who is organised, collaborative, and confident in driving strategic execution while balancing multiple priorities and bringing people along.

Reporting to our Group General Counsel, the role is to be the in-house lead for the provision of corporate and governance legal services across Fnality Group (that includes regulated and unregulated entities) to a wide range of internal stakeholders, including group leadership team and board members, business lines, other corporate functions such as Finance, HR and Commercial. The role will also support the Group General Counsel and other members of our group leadership team (including our Group CEO and CFO) in managing Fnality Group’s relationships with key external stakeholders (customers, investors, and regulators).

The main outcomes of the role are:

• In-house lead for the provision of corporate and governance legal services across Fnality Group, including on:

• Fnality Group’s constitutional arrangements (e.g., Fnality International Shareholders Agreement, Articles of Association, Fnality Local entity by-laws);
• Corporate governance (including directors’ duties and managing conflicts of interest);
• Ad hoc strategic Group initiatives;
• Related regulatory and compliance issues;
• Delivering corporate and governance internal training, where required.

Your main responsibilities will include (but not limited to):

• Analysing and presenting solutions on a wide range of general legal queries, with a focus on corporate and commercial law;
• Leading our cross-functional Governance Working Group and managing our company secretarial function;
• Bringing people together to optimise alignment of Fnality Group governance arrangements, identifying areas for improvement and driving execution of improvements;
• Preparing internal governance documents, Board/sub-committee papers/resolutions, memoranda of advice, and explanatory/guidance documents;
• Preparing for and attending meetings with internal colleagues/stakeholders and third parties;
• Drafting, reviewing, negotiating and interpreting a broad range of corporate and commercial contracts, and handling disputes when they arise;
• Collaborating closely with other members of our inhouse legal team to deliver first-rate legal services across Fnality Group;
• Advising on the ongoing evolution of Fnality Group’s internal business policies, risk controls and compliance measures, conducting training where required;
• Managing prudently our external legal budget on matters requiring external counsel input.

What we need from you:

• A minimum of 4-5 years professional work experience at a law firm or corporate in-house legal team, with a focus on corporate governance, commercial law and related regulatory/compliance matters.
• Admission to legal practice in the UK (England), US (Connecticut, New York) or another common law jurisdiction.
• Excellent communication (oral, written) skills, and strong interpersonal skills to work effectively and collaboratively with a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders.
• Proactive, with strong ability to influence others and bring people together in delivering collaboratively to achieve our business targets.
• Strong ability to apply first principles in developing solutions in response to new or difficult problems and in navigating ambiguity.
• Highly organised, with fastidious attention to detail and strong time management skills.
• A genuine curiosity in how law, regulation and public policy intersect with emerging technologies, business strategy, and new business models in global financial markets.
• Experience of working in or strong desire to work in an innovative, disruptive, rapidly evolving business.
• Ideally, experience of managing external law firms to support an in-house legal team.
• Ideally, evidence knowledge of one or more 'other' interconnecting SME legal topics: IP, data privacy, employment, dispute resolution, competition/antitrust law, tax, real estate.

A bit more about us:

Digital transformation is changing our lives, work and businesses. While other sectors evolve, however, financial markets remain slow, fragmented and siloed. What the world needs now is a future-facing financial system for the digital age. At Fnality, we have been speaking – and listening – to the real users of today’s financial systems.

This is a UK or US based role and you must be eligible to work in the UK or the US. Please note we cannot sponsor visas for this role.