Senior Counsel, Regulatory

Mastercard; London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A major technology firm in London seeks a Senior Counsel with expertise in regulatory oversight for payment systems. The successful candidate will provide legal advice on SIPS Regulation and collaborate with various teams to navigate complex regulatory landscapes. Ideal for a qualified lawyer with mid-level experience in the financial industry and strong communication skills.

Qualifications

• Mid-level experience, ideally in-house within a retail bank or regulated payments business.
• Strong understanding of systemic importance and prudential regulation.
• Excellent communication skills to explain complex regulatory issues.

Responsibilities

• Provide advice on SIPS Regulation and PISA oversight.
• Engage with European Central Bank and Bank of England.
• Manage external counsel and analyze regulatory advice.

Skills

Legal expertise

Regulatory advice

Communication skills

Proactive approach

Commercial awareness

Education

Qualified lawyer in Europe

Job description

Our Purpose

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart, and accessible. Our technology, innovation, partnerships, and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses, and governments realize their greatest potential.

Title and Summary

Senior Counsel, Regulatory

Who is Mastercard?

Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships, and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments, and businesses realize their greatest potential.

Our decency quotient drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.

Overview

Mastercard’s global Regulatory organisation is looking for a Senior Counsel to join its Europe team, reporting to the Assistant General Counsel, Regulatory for Europe. The role will have lead responsibility for managing Mastercard’s oversight as a Systemically Important Payment System (SIPS) in Europe and a Recognised Payment System in the UK. It will be responsible for advising on the oversight requirements and related impacts across multiple areas of the business. The role is a legal, rather than a compliance role, but will work very closely with Mastercard’s regulatory compliance team on all aspects of oversight. In addition, the role will be involved in a number of other important regulatory issues across Europe, including critical infrastructure designation, treasury/settlement issues, tax, and technology modernization.

Collectively, this will involve a high degree of collaborative working with many others across the Mastercard organisation including business counterparts outside the Europe region in roles potentially including Technology, Finance, Risk, Product, Operations, Settlement, and many more. The successful candidate will be part of a global group that manages Mastercard’s regulatory footprint under the leadership of Mastercard’s General Counsel, Regulatory.

Role

• Provides advice and guidance on the SIPS Regulation, the PISA oversight framework, and various Bank of England Codes and supervisory statements to Regulatory colleagues and internal business teams most impacted by oversight, building close trusted relationships and establishing a reputation as the subject matter expert
• Providing legal/regulatory advice to business stakeholders on the impact of oversight requirements on product development and technology and contributing subject matter expertise with respect to operational requirements, policies, and procedures
• In partnership with Compliance, engaging with the European Central Bank, National Bank of Belgium, and Bank of England on oversight issues, as well as advocating and defending Mastercard’s position or approach
• Assessing the impact of external regulatory initiatives on Mastercard, working across the business to develop positioning and drafting relevant consultation responses
• Acting as a liaison to business and/or functional departments in connection with regulatory engagements including regulatory examinations, meetings, and other interactions.
• Managing external counsel as necessary, and reviewing and analyzing regulatory advice for advancing strategic initiatives

All About You

• A lawyer qualified to practice within the Europe region, with mid-level experience, ideally including time working in-house within a retail bank, regulated payments business, or central bank/relevant regulator
• A strong understanding of systemic importance/prudential regulation, combined with the role of Financial Market Infrastructures within the payments ecosystem
• Solid understanding of relevant European payments regulation and the broader regulatory and policy landscape
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, combined with an ability to communicate complex regulatory issues in simple and concise terms
• Must demonstrate a proactive, time-sensitive, results-driven approach in carrying out all duties, obligations, and responsibilities
• Experience of operating within a multi-faceted organization working closely with a variety of teams – legal, public policy, communications, commercial, finance, etc.
• Self-starter / motivated to work independently and as an effective team member
• A strong commercial awareness, risk-based approach, and “yes, if” attitude to providing regulatory advice

Corporate Security Responsibility

All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks come with an inherent risk to the organization and, therefore, it is expected that every person working for, or on behalf of, Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:

• Abide by Mastercard’s security policies and practices;
• Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed;
• Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and
• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.