Senior Legal Counsel, Anti-Financial Crime

PIMCO is a global leader in active fixed income with deep expertise across public and private markets. We invest our clients’ capital across a range of fixed income and credit opportunities, leveraging our decades of experience navigating complex debt markets. Our flexible capital base and deep relationships with issuers have helped us become one of the world’s largest providers of traditional and nontraditional solutions for companies that need financing and investors who seek strong risk-adjusted returns.

Since 1971, our people have shaped our organization through a high-performance inclusive culture, in which we celebrate diverse thinking. We invest in our people and strive to imprint our CORE values of Collaboration, Openness, Responsibility and Excellence. We believe each of us is here to help others succeed and this has led to PIMCO being recognized as an innovator, industry thought leader and trusted advisor to our clients.

Due to business growth, an expanding product range, and increasingly complex laws and regulations focused on sanctions, anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering (collectively, "Anti-Financial Crimes" or "AFC" laws), PIMCO seeks an experienced lawyer who can leverage subject matter expertise in these areas to provide practical advice on all aspects of PIMCO’s EMEA business, and to assist in the execution of that advice from a compliance perspective.

The role demands an experienced AFC lawyer with a first class intellect and significant experience in asset management, including in transactional due diligence, alternative (or private) investment funds, public funds, and separately managed accounts. The candidate should be well versed in EU and UK AFC laws, as applied to investors/clients, investment transactions/holdings, fund formation and product distribution, as well as with US sanctions. The lawyer will partner closely with portfolio management, product strategy, finance, compliance, operations and other functions, from across the globe. The ideal candidate will also be knowledgeable in anti-fraud controls as they relate to the asset management industry. Lawyers with relevant experience, whether in-house or private practice, will be considered.

Responsibilities

• Advising stakeholders on requirements of EU and UK AFC laws and best practices for accomplishing compliance with those laws, and assisting with implementation
• Partnering with the Global AFC Team on implementation of US sanctions globally
• Providing AFC advice in connection with transaction diligence and securities trading
• Ensuring appropriate contractual protections are included in transactional documentation
• Providing AFC input on fund documentation (including Limited Partnership Agreements, investor subscription documents, Private Placement Memoranda, and prospectuses and other public fund disclosure documents), side letters, investment management agreements, service provider and vendor agreements, consultant agreements, and distribution and platform agreements
• Supporting other legal functions and projects (e.g., regulatory monitoring and implementation projects, policy advocacy and industry engagement, corporate projects and governance support)
• Overseeing and managing external counsel
• Providing subject matter expertise for AFC and anti-fraud training

Experience required

• Extensive knowledge of legal and regulatory requirements in EMEA relating to AFC requirements
• Familiarity with US sanctions
• Monitoring of AFC requirements in EMEA jurisdictions
• Deal experience relating to transactions in asset classes such as real estate and private credit/private equity
• Ability to quickly assess and calibrate AFC and reputational risks and propose appropriate mitigants
• Interaction/management of related regulatory inquiries
• Experience working with Senior Management/Boards

Desirable

• Significant experience in a similar role, with investment management industry experience
• Trade floor advisory experience
• Excellent interpersonal skills (with the ability to communicate in a clear and succinct manner)
• Excellent communication skills
• Commercial and business oriented
• High degree of client service orientation, proactivity and responsiveness
• Collaborative, professional and team player essential
• Good attention to detail
• High degree of personal and professional integrity
• Ability to organise and deliver under tight deadlines

The Legal team is very client service focused and is looking for someone who can deliver the highest of client service standards, as well as communicate confidently with all levels of the organisation, work well within a team environment, own and drive forward their own workload and use initiative to continually assess and improve existing processes. With PIMCO’s rewarding environment and growing business, this role is full of opportunity for the right candidate.