Legal Counsel – Qualified Lawyer with UK & US Regulatory and Contracts Experience

S&P Global; City Of London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services firm in London seeks a Legal Counsel to manage regulatory matters and contracts within the Optimisation Division. The role requires expertise in UK and US law, with at least 3 years of experience in financial services. Ideal candidates will excel in delivering advice to stakeholders while ensuring compliance with various regulations. This position offers a dynamic work environment and growth opportunities.

Benefits

Health & Wellness

Flexible Downtime

Continuous Learning

Invest in Your Future

Family Friendly Perks

Beyond the Basics

Qualifications

• A qualified lawyer in the UK and/or US.
• Experience handling regulatory matters in the UK and US.
• Experience in drafting and negotiating contracts.

Responsibilities

• Provide timely and commercially driven advice to the sales and product teams.
• Manage regulatory matters across regions such as APAC, EU, UK, and US.
• Draft and negotiate client contracts and service agreements.

Skills

Service minded

Solutions focused

Strong verbal/written communication

Excellent organizational skills

Education

Qualified lawyer in the UK and/or US

3-4 years' experience in a legal function

Job description

About the Role

Legal Counsel – Qualified Lawyer with UK & US Regulatory and Contracts Experience

The Team: In this role, you will support the Optimisation Legal Division on regulatory matters, contracts, new initiatives and projects, and other generalist legal matters. You will be a key partner to the Legal, Risk and Compliance (LRC) function as well as to the broader organisation. We are a highly trusted and dynamic team that works in close partnership with the business to help achieve maximum results.

The Impact: Together, we build, support, protect and manage high performance, resilient platforms. Our services are vital to financial institutions around the globe, managing peak volumes and working with customers and regulators to ensure the efficient management of risk and effective operation of global capital markets.

What\'s In It For You: You will have the opportunity to work in a dynamic environment and be part of a global, highly matrixed team that provides crucial support to OSTTRA. There will be multiple opportunities for you to develop your skills and grow in your role. This role reports into the Head of Legal & Regulatory for Optimisation based in Stockholm.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a key member of the Optimisation legal team and provide timely and commercially driven advice to the sales, product and business management teams within the Optimisation Division.
• Manage regulatory matters for our business lines – including day-to-day regulatory matters for APAC, EU, UK and the US; work with product and business management teams and external counsel to assess the suitability of new product offerings and functionalities and provide advice on and solutions to legal and regulatory risks; prepare licensing applications and/or correspondences to regulators in consultation with internal stakeholders and external counsel; monitor and implement new regulatory developments and ensure cross-functional compliance; refresh legal advice periodically and maintain an up-to-date tracker and repository of all legal advice obtained; file notifications and submissions with regulatory authorities within deadlines; work with internal or external auditors to collate and provide information for regulatory audits; review events and collateral for sales and marketing purposes; and draft and/or review responses to regulatory consultations.
• Manage contracts for our business lines – including drafting and negotiating client contracts, information security addendums, service contracts, CCP contracts, licensing and data contracts, confidentiality contracts, intragroup agreements and other commercial contracts; draft new contracts or update existing contracts for new products or functionalities and/or to safeguard against new risks; draft fee letters for bespoke fee arrangements; develop and update contracts in response to changing market practices; develop and maintain playbooks and sales guidance; proactively seek feedback to improve and simplify contracts and contracting approaches.
• Collaborate with other members within the Legal, Risk & Compliance function based in London, Stockholm, India, Penang, New York and Israel on topical or jurisdictional matters.
• Assist with other generalist legal work within the division or within the wider organisation.

Basic Qualifications

Qualifications & Experience

• A qualified lawyer in the UK and/or US.
• 3-4 years’ experience in a legal function at a regulated financial services firm (preferably a bank, brokerage house, exchange, and trading venue) or as a financial services lawyer at a law firm.
• Experience handling regulatory matters in the UK and US as well as some experience in drafting and negotiating contracts.

Skills

• Service minded, solutions focused and responsive to the needs of the business.
• Able to turnaround work quickly and accurately, within agreed deadlines.
• Able to manage client and business expectations without significantly increasing legal and regulatory risks.
• Able to learn quickly and work effectively in line with changing priorities.
• Strong verbal/written communication and language competency.
• Able to work independently and exercise discretion when escalating issues.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.

About OSTTRA

OSTTRA is a market leader in derivatives post-trade processing, bringing innovation, expertise, processes and networks together to solve the post-trade challenges of global financial markets. OSTTRA operates cross-asset post-trade processing networks, providing a proven suite of Credit Risk, Trade Workflow and Optimisation services. Together these solutions streamline post-trade workflows, enabling firms to connect to counterparties and utilities, manage credit risk, reduce operational risk and optimise processing to drive post-trade efficiencies.

OSTTRA was formed in 2021 through the combination of four businesses that have been at the heart of post-trade evolution and innovation for the last 20+ years: MarkitServ, Traiana, TriOptima and Reset. These businesses have an exemplary track record of developing and supporting critical market infrastructure and bring together an established community of market participants comprising all trading relationships and paradigms, connected using powerful integration and transformation capabilities. OSTTRA is an independent firm, jointly owned by S&P Global and CME Group. As part of the joint venture, S&P Global provides recruitment services to OSTTRA - however, successful candidates will be interviewed and directly employed by OSTTRA, joining our global team of more than 1,200 post-trade experts. Learn more at osttra.com.

What’s In It For You?

Benefits: We take care of you, so you can take care of business. We care about our people. That’s why we provide everything you—and your career—need to thrive at S&P Global. Our benefits include:

• Health & Wellness: Health care coverage designed for the mind and body.
• Flexible Downtime: Generous time off helps keep you energized for your time on.
• Continuous Learning: Access a wealth of resources to grow your career and learn valuable new skills.
• Invest in Your Future: Secure your financial future through competitive pay, retirement planning, a continuing education program with a company-matched student loan contribution, and financial wellness programs.
• Family Friendly Perks: Perks for partners and children, with best-in-class benefits for families.
• Beyond the Basics: From retail discounts to referral incentive awards—small perks can make a big difference.

For more information on benefits by country visit: https://spgbenefits.com/benefit-summaries

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Equality and Access: S&P Global is an equal opportunity employer. If you need an accommodation during the application process, please email [e-mail] and your request will be forwarded to the appropriate person.

All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race/ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military veteran status, unemployment status, or any other status protected by law.