At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead legal and compliance matters in a dynamic crypto trading environment.
- Company: Join Portofino Technologies, a leader in the crypto trading space.
- Benefits: Competitive compensation, collaborative culture, and strong technical ownership.
- Other info: Opportunity to work closely with senior management and influence key decisions.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on compliance and legal strategies in a fast-paced industry.
- Qualifications: Significant experience in compliance, AML, and financial crime within regulated environments.
The predicted salary is between 90000 - 110000 £ per year.
Join Portofino Technologies as Head of Legal, Compliance & MLRO, leading legal, regulatory and financial crime matters across our global crypto trading business. We are looking for an experienced Head of Compliance and Legal Affairs to lead legal, regulatory and financial crime matters across Portofino Technologies. You will act as MLRO for our UK entity and oversee our compliance framework, while coordinating legal and regulatory matters across the wider group, including entities in the UK, BVI, Switzerland and Europe. This is a broad, hands-on role combining regulatory compliance, AML and financial crime, legal operations and commercial legal work. You will work closely with senior management and the Board, as well as external counsel and regulatory authorities, supporting the business as it develops new products, enters new markets and grows its institutional trading activities.
Responsibilities
- Lead legal, compliance and financial crime matters across the Portofino Technologies group.
- Act as MLRO for our UK entity, overseeing AML, CTF, sanctions and wider financial crime frameworks.
- Take ownership of litigation, disputes and potential claims, defining strategy and coordinating external lawyers across relevant jurisdictions.
- Select, instruct and manage external legal counsel, ensuring specialist advice is used effectively and proportionately.
- Review, draft and negotiate client, trading, vendor, confidentiality and intercompany agreements, with particular focus on liability, indemnities, termination rights and regulatory obligations.
- Identify and manage legal and regulatory risks arising from new products, counterparties, jurisdictions and business initiatives.
- Advise senior management and the Board on material legal, regulatory and compliance matters, including disputes and higher-risk decisions.
- Own and develop compliance policies, risk assessments, monitoring and controls, including client onboarding, CDD/EDD, screening and transaction monitoring.
- Coordinate legal, regulatory and compliance matters across our UK, BVI, Swiss and European entities.
- Manage regulatory filings, supervisory engagements, audits and relationships with regulators and other relevant authorities.
- Monitor legal and regulatory developments affecting cryptoasset and financial services businesses and translate them into practical actions for the business.
Requirements
- Significant experience in compliance, AML, financial crime, legal or regulatory roles within financial services, cryptoassets or another regulated environment.
- Strong knowledge of the UK regulatory framework applicable to cryptoasset and financial services businesses.
- Strong understanding of AML, sanctions and wider financial crime requirements.
- Good understanding of cryptoassets, blockchain technology and associated regulatory risks.
- Experience overseeing CDD, EDD, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and financial crime investigations.
- Ability to interpret complex regulation and translate it into practical, risk-based policies and controls.
- Experience working with senior management and the confidence to challenge and expand where necessary.
- Strong communication, judgement and stakeholder-management skills.
Nice to Have
- Previous experience as an MLRO, Deputy MLRO, Head of Compliance or senior financial crime professional.
- A legal qualification, law degree or significant in-house legal experience.
- ICA, ACAMS or another relevant compliance or AML qualification.
- Experience reviewing and negotiating commercial, trading or financial services agreements.
- Experience dealing directly with regulators and supervisory authorities.
- Experience working across multiple jurisdictions.
- Familiarity with blockchain analytics, wallet screening and transaction-monitoring tools.
- Understanding of institutional crypto markets, market making and OTC trading.
Your personality
- Independent, pragmatic and comfortable exercising sound judgement.
- Hands-on and willing to work across both strategic and day-to-day matters.
- Commercially minded while maintaining clear regulatory independence.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-moving trading environment.
- Confident working directly with senior management, the Board, regulators and external advisers.
- Clear, collaborative and able to turn complex legal and regulatory issues into practical solutions.
Why Join Portofino Technologies
- C++ performance engineering sits at the heart of a live trading system, with direct impact on performance across multiple venues.
- Your work runs in production and affects live trading.
- Build and evolve systems end to end, from design to deployment.
- Work closely with experienced traders and engineers.
- Internal tooling, including AI systems, helps reduce repetitive work and accelerate development.
We offer a collaborative environment with strong technical ownership and competitive compensation aligned with performance.
Head of Compliance and Legal affairs in London employer: Portofino Technologies
Portofino Technologies is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic and collaborative work environment where your expertise in compliance and legal affairs will directly influence our global crypto trading operations. With a focus on employee growth and competitive compensation, you will have the opportunity to work closely with senior management and external partners, ensuring that your contributions are both meaningful and impactful in a fast-paced industry. Join us to be part of a lean team that values innovation and technical ownership, while navigating the exciting challenges of the crypto landscape.
