Role Purpose
As part of a small legal team within a UK regulated financial services group, you will assist the Senior Legal Advisor in providing legal support to the various UK businesses. This support will include legal agreement drafting, negotiating, reviewing, giving pragmatic legal advice and managing litigation with external legal counsel as needed. You will work closely with the compliance team on matters requiring legal input and you will work with the South African legal team on projects as and when required. Overall, the role will be dynamic in nature and the day-to-day work will be highly dependent on the nature of legal topics that need to be addressed at any given time.
Requirements
Education / Qualifications
- Qualified solicitor (England and Wales)
- Undergraduate law degree
Experience
- At least two years of post-qualification experience gained within a law firm in London
- Strong IT skills and the ability to learn to use internal systems quickly
- Able to produce excellent written communication, using email and standard Microsoft packages
Knowledge and Skills
- Excellent contract drafting and negotiation skills
- Good knowledge of English commercial transactions law and company law
- Experience and knowledge of UK financial services regulation would be advantageous
- Very strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate and build relationships within all areas of the businesses
- Critical thinking skills
Duties and Responsibilities
- Drafting, negotiating and reviewing all legal documentation for acquisitions and strategic projects (including share purchase agreements, asset sale agreements, loan agreements, security agreements, share options, creating SPVs).
- Drafting, negotiating and reviewing a wide range of agreements specific to the companies’ financial services businesses, including investment management agreements, distribution agreements, trading agreements, data-related agreements, supplier agreements, non-disclosure agreements and enterprise/corporate partnership agreements.
- Liaising with external legal counsel on litigation and complex legal matters. This will include managing litigation matters and being the coordinator and main point of contact between the companies and external counsel, as well as reporting back to stakeholders in South Africa from time to time.
- Providing clear, concise advice to the companies on legal, liability and risk issues which allows the companies to take decisions and implement their strategies.
- Identifying legal risks associated with the companies’ operations, products, and services and developing and implementing strategies and processes to mitigate these risks. These may include areas such as intellectual property (including trademark registration and protection), data privacy, cybersecurity and third-party management.
- Conducting legal research and analysis on complex legal issues affecting the companies’ practices or operations.
- Drafting and amending agreements for the UK, Guernsey and Luxembourg funds.
- Reviewing and advising on legal and regulatory filings, including offering memorandums, prospectuses, and regulatory filings.
- Staying up to date with relevant legal and regulatory developments and advising the companies on their potential impact.
- Assisting the legal and compliance teams in the development and distribution of internal legal training materials.
- Assisting the compliance team with the drafting and reviewing of policies from time to time.
- Assisting the legal team with maintaining a knowledge base of legal FAQs, precedents and guidance notes for the companies.
- Liaising with other business units to gather information or clarifying legal queries.
- Supporting communication between the UK and South African legal teams.
