Emerging Markets Debt Transaction Counsel

Morgan Stanley; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Morgan Stanley's Emerging Markets Debt investment team seeks a Transaction Counsel to provide legal and structuring support across sovereign and corporate credit investments in emerging markets. You will analyze documentation, assess rights and terms, and partner with portfolio managers, analysts, traders, and operations on structuring and renegotiation.

You will coordinate with internal teams and external counsel, negotiate sovereign and corporate documents, oversee insurance and risk-transfer

Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited law school and bar admission in at least one U.S. state.
• Experience in transactional law with exposure to sovereign debt documentation and/or sovereign restructuring; distressed/restructuring experience preferred.
• Background in credit documentation for corporate issuers (bonds/loans), with ability to read/negotiate covenants and protections.
• Familiarity with EM credit frameworks, including New York and/or English law, across jurisdictions.
• Ability to translate legal terms into investment implications under time pressure with sound judgment.
• Excellent drafting, issue-spotting, and communication skills for interaction with senior investors and external counsel.
• Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple matters and maintain attention to detail.
• Interest in emerging/frontier markets; foreign language skills are a plus but not required.

Responsibilities

• Provide investment-relevant analysis of sovereign bond documentation to assess rights, remedies, and key terms.
• Act as the investment team’s point person for managing external counsel on sovereign and corporate matters, including scoping, prioritization, review of deliverables, and ensuring advice translates to investment implications.
• Support sovereign document negotiation processes, including evaluating proposals, advising on exchange offers and consent solicitations, and coordinating execution with external counsel and advisors.
• Support corporate side via review and negotiation of bespoke new-issue and private deal documentation (bonds, loans, structured instruments).
• Partner with investment professionals on structuring considerations to align legal terms with the investment thesis and risk.
• Provide secondary support on trading and counterparty documentation impacting exposures (ISDA/CSA and related agreements) and risk management.
• Support the team’s use of insurance and risk-transfer structures, reviewing terms, coverage triggers, exclusions, and alignment with investment objectives.
• Help maintain internal documentation standards and provide periodic training on market documentation developments and recurring legal themes.

Skills

Drafting

Legal analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Time management

Education

J.D. from an accredited law school

Member in good standing of a U.S. state bar

Job description

Morgan Stanley's Emerging Markets Debt investment team seeks a Transaction Counsel to provide legal and structuring support across sovereign and corporate credit investments in emerging markets. You will analyze documentation, assess rights and terms, and partner with portfolio managers, analysts, traders, and operations on structuring and renegotiation.

You will coordinate with internal teams and external counsel, negotiate sovereign and corporate documents, oversee insurance and risk-transfer