Senior Legal Counsel – Global Markets & Group Funding

Join the UAE’s largest bank and one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions. Our focus is to create value for our employees, customers, shareholders and communities to grow through differentiation, agility and innovation.

We are looking for top talent and your success is our success. Accelerate your growth as you help us reach our goals and advance your career. Be ready to make your mark a top company, in an exciting and dynamic industry. 

This person manages legal risks in relation to Global Markets and Group Funding businesses globally in accordance with FAB Group Legal Department policies and procedures. The role holder should be able to work autonomously but should seek the Head of Legal – Global Markets & Group Funding’s input on unusual situations, complex matters, and issues that may pose significant legal, financial and/or reputational risk to FAB Group.

The role holder will have in depth knowledge of derivatives and structured products and, to a lesser extent, debt capital markets and custody. The role holder will provide value-added legal support primarily to the Global Markets business, and also support the Group Funding and Custody businesses. This will include, amongst other things:

• Drafting and negotiating derivatives transaction documentation with a particular emphasis on structured derivatives (TRS, structured equity financings etc.) across all asset classes (credit, equity, rates, commodities and FX).
• Drafting and negotiating securities lending and repo transaction documentation, particularly structured repos.
• Advising how to structure transactions in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements including, without limitation, EMIR, Dodd-Frank and MiFID2.
• Managing the legal aspects of issuing bonds and structured notes from FAB’s short and medium-term debt funding programs and structured notes programs in both conventional and Islamic format.
• Providing legal guidance to FAB’s in-house Global Markets Documentation Team (i.e. ISDA Negotiators) when this team of paralegals is drafting and negotiating derivatives master agreements including ISDAs, GMRAs, TMAs and associated collateralisation and other ancillary documentation (e.g. CSAs, MCAs, Execution Agreements etc).
• Negotiating custody agreements and advising on structured custody solutions.
• Creating and updating FAB’s template documentation.

Core Responsibilities

Legal Advisory

• Provides legal advice whilst keeping in mind FAB’s strategic and business objectives.
• Provides guidance to facilitate FAB’s compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations.
• Collaborates with the Head of Legal – Global Markets & Group Funding to establish, disseminate and implement the FAB Group Legal Department policies and procedures.
• Completes tasks and responds to legal queries in a timely manner.
• Supports FAB subsidiaries and international branches by providing general legal oversight of legal risks.

Legal Documentation and Review

• Drafts, reviews and negotiates contracts and other legal documents in a commercially prudent manner to facilitate transaction completion whilst simultaneously minimising legal risks.
• Produces and regularly updates standardised legal agreements, contracts and standard terms and conditions for FAB in compliance with international best practices and applicable legal requirements.
• Assists the business in launching new products and conducts legal and regulatory due diligence on such products, including identifying risks and mitigants in all applicable geographies.

Knowledge of External Environment

• Stays abreast of new laws and regulations through continuous legal education, attending professional conferences and participating in professional associations such as ISDA and ICMA.
• Provides updates on new legislation and regulatory developments and advises how to comply with such new legislation and regulations.

Knowledge Sharing

• Works closely and develops a positive professional relationship with the other members of the legal function and shares knowledge and best practices with colleagues, including by providing training.

Learning and Development

• Functions as a subject matter expert and provides input on learning and development initiatives including training content to ensure value addition and relevance.

Specific Accountability

• Drafts and negotiates structured products and structured note documentation.
• Drafts and negotiates derivatives, repo and custody documentation and agreements.
• Maintains FAB’s short and medium-term note programs and structured notes programs from a legal perspective and supports issuances from such programs.
• Assists the business with rolling out new products and services.
• Recommends improvements to policies and processes to streamline working practices.
• Provides legal advice on ad hoc legal queries raised by businesses and other enablement functions.

Minimum Qualification

• Bachelor’s degree in law from an internationally recognised university
• Qualified as a lawyer in England (or another common law or European jurisdiction)
• Excellent English language skills

Minimum Experience

• At least 6 years PQE in a reputed international bank or law firm, with at least 4 years in a similar role