Qualified Lawyer (Derivatives and Trading - 1-3 PQE)

Delighted to be supporting one of the most prestigious law firms in London (c1000 headcount including Partners) in recruiting for a Derivatives and Trading Associate with 1-3 yrs' PQE. The derivatives and trading practice consists of two partners, three senior counsels, one senior associate, six associates, two trainee solicitors and four paralegals. They represent hedge funds, corporate treasuries, financial institutions, managed account platforms, asset managers and high-net-worth individuals in structuring, negotiating and executing complex and bespoke derivative instruments.

The team works alongside specialist lawyers in financial services, regulatory, capital markets, tax and dispute resolution and advise on both the day-to-day trading requirements of clients, and the most complex derivative and structured product transactions in both transactional and contentious roles. The practice has a global client base and advises on a wide range of products including repos, stock loans and all kinds of derivative, covering interest rate, fixed income, currency, commodity, equity, credit, basket and index underliers.

The team routinely advises on matters such as prime brokerage and clearing, and issues around rehypothecation and segregation, custody and collateral, securities lending and margin financing matters, repos, structured products, exchange traded derivatives, central clearing including OTC clearing under Dodd-Frank and EMIR, cash equities and cash bond trading under broker terms of business and electronic trading arrangements.

Key responsibilities:

• The role is predominantly transactional, negotiating a broad spectrum of derivative and trade documents between broker-dealers and/or hedge funds, and managing the document and execution process for fund launches and business as usual transactions.
• Day-to-day advisory work for the predominantly buy-side client basis will also be required.
• A good working knowledge of current regulatory issues is therefore useful, although the firm carries out extensive training in this regard.
• Creating and/or diligencing innovative structures for clients and colleagues in other practice areas.
• Supporting wider firm transactions with hedging queries and related collateral and regulatory issues.
• Researching new products and regulations around the world, whenever clients wish to trade.

What we are looking for in a candidate:

• Strong academic qualifications from degree upwards.
• Ideally will have completed at least one seat within derivatives, finance or funds during their training contract.
• Articulate and confident to deliver at the highest standard within a team of highly competent associates.
• Ambitious, with a genuine commitment to develop both their professional and legal skills and the profile of the group.
• The ability to instil confidence in the client by delivering clear, efficient and robust advice in a derivatives context.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.

Note - this role could suit either someone currently working in private practice or someone who trained in finance practice and now may be working for a recognised investment bank trading desk (including work on some or all of OTC Derivatives and ETDs, prime broker and custody agreements, collateral arrangements, clearing and repos).