Job Description

Job: Legal
Primary Location: Asia-Singapore-Singapore
Schedule: Full-time
Employee Status: Permanent
Posting Date: 31/Jul/2022, 10:17:38 PM
Unposting Date: Ongoing


About Standard Chartered
We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 160 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents. And we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Role Responsibilities
To provide subject matter legal expertise and guidance to support FX, Rates, and Credit (FXRC) in Financial Markets and representing FM Legal in the relevant senior management forums and committees in FM including those related to trading, sales and structuring in Macro and Credit businesses; and
To provide, and manage the provision of, advisory, structuring and execution support to all regional Financial Markets businesses and functions with the twin objectives of revenue generation and control, driven by a laser focus on FM’s core QPR/MPR scorecard objectives both as to product and region:
(a) Sales, Structuring and Trading regionally in all asset classes: FX, Rates, Commodities, Structured Credit, Bespoke Credit Solutions (BCS) and Structured Funding. (b) OTC and programme-based product execution, updates and new programmes. (c) COO, Sales and Trading with respect to global and local reform initiatives (including, but not limited to, bank resolution, margin reform, IBOR reform, India VM and IM CSA). (d) Providing legal advice to Strategic Initiatives (often managed behind internal information barriers) and thematic objectives such as India VM and IM CSA, and the roll-out of new products and markets for FXRC, BCS and Structured Funding businesses in FM (d) Supporting and implementing applicable Group legal standards, practices and requirements. (e) To lead FM Legal input to internal governance fora, e.g., DTAG, STAG, RPF, NCEC and FM IBOR working groups. (f) To engage with and contribute to regional industry bodies (e.g., ISDA, ASIFMA) on market initiatives such as India VM and IM CSA, netting, IBOR reforms, (g) Working in close collaboration with CIB/CB Legal, CPBB Legal and Compliance colleagues in relation to all of the foregoing. (h) Support process ownership and escalation by Legal for Operational Risk Framework issues in the region
To manage the team of reports in pursuit of the foregoing and to provide informal oversight and assistance to Country legal colleagues in ASA and FMC teams in Bengaluru.
General Financial Markets

• Provide general structuring, product, regulatory and transactional legal advice.
• Negotiate, complete and facilitate execution of transaction documentation.
• Review, maintain and manage product and transactional templates.
• Provide training on legal/documentation product and regulatory matters and legal policies and procedures.
• Provide legal review and sign-off required under relevant policies and procedures.
• Liaise with external counsel and with regional and client segment legal and compliance colleagues.
• Provide advice on disputes and potential defaults.

Product and business advisory work

• Assist in the identification of material legal and jurisdictional risks for the relevant businesses.
• Anticipate and assesses key legal developments in the business for management consideration and help drive the development and implementation of appropriate legal framework.
• Undertake continual assessment of legal and documentation risks.
• Participate in the overall governance of a business.
• Lead legal input in approval of new products and new business initiatives.
• Help regional country legal teams with product line expertise as required, particularly with regard to legal documentation and product approvals.

Identification and mitigation of legal risks

• Determine adequacy, validity and enforceability of contractual documentation.
• Manage documentation templates automation.
• Legal knowledge management.
• Assist with review of and compliance with policies and procedures.
• Assist in process governance committees and operational risks committees.
• Assist in management of client dispute resolution, if any.

New products development and roll-out to new jurisdictions

• Review and provide legal sign-offs for product and country governance documents.
• Design, develop and approve new product documentation and country specific documentation.
• Lead and coordinate with country legal & compliance in relation to global roll-out of new products.
• Consider and analyse cross border legal and regulatory risks.

Regulatory reform

• Monitor and advise on regulatory reform developments in ASA regions including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Philippines, and Cambodia.
• Provide support to team on client clearing initiative.
• Update the regulatory reform team and FM L&C senior management team on FXRC and ASA developments.
• Liaise with regulatory reform team and FM L&C senior management such as IBOR, Margin reform, SFTR, EMIR, Dodd Frank, and Volcker issues in order to advise business on such issues.

Legal costs management

• Control, monitor and report external legal spending.
• Monitor quality of legal services provided by external law firms.
• Develop MI to facilitate regular communication and escalation to stakeholders.
• Provide non-panel law firm approvals on a selective basis

Partnership

• Build strong relationships with relevant business stakeholders and functions.

Our Ideal Candidate
Technical Knowledge

• Core technical knowledge of laws and regulations applicable to the relevant business (or businesses) for which he / she is responsible.
• Has a general understanding of variations in such laws and regulations across relevant jurisdictions.
• Has a core grasp of the sales and transactional activities of the business, its operating model, and its key risks.

Experience and knowledge

• A first degree in Law.
• Qualified lawyer, preferably in a common law jurisdiction.
• Experience in foreign exchange (FX) and derivatives, rates, credit derivatives and structured credit.
• Experience working in the markets of the bank’s footprints (desirable).
• Experience of financial markets and products, documentation and regulation.
• Relevant regional markets experience.
• At least more than 12 years PQE, with experience managing a team strongly desired
• Deep knowledge and experience in fixed income derivatives, credit derivatives, commodities, structured credit, structured products and structured financing.
• Familiarity with, and have experience working on, ISDA master agreement, credit support documentation, repo and stock lending documentation, confirmations and termsheets in relation to FM transactions.

Character and skills

• Strong analytical and legal skills.
• Personal authority and integrity.
• Independence and resilience.
• An inquisitive approach to practices, procedures and specific transactions.
• Ability to coordinate across different cultures, functions and geographies.
• Be an inspirational people leader who looks for opportunities to grow others, develop talent, give clarity and guidance, drive purpose, and enhance decision quality across the team
• Be a leader who helps to grow the Bank, harnessing a strategic mindset and the ability to navigate complex situations and ambiguity

Judgment

• Many issues which arise in the course of drafting or negotiating documentation are not legal issues but involve aspects of credit, market, event or operational risk. Must be able to understand the nature of these risks and contribute to the processes that mitigate these risks.
• Negotiation of document often requires a judgement decision in which a balance must be struck between the interests of doing business and of protecting the Bank. Must be able to make a meaningful recommendation and to provide the decision-maker with sufficient information in order to make an informed decision.
• Ability to adapt approach to a range of legal systems.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion. Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
  
  
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
  
  
• Be better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations
  
  
• Time-off including annual, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 weeks maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum
  
  
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns
  
  
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
  
  
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning
  
  
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.

Recruitment assessments - some of our roles use assessments to help us understand how suitable you are for the role you've applied to. If you are invited to take an assessment, this is great news. It means your application has progressed to an important stage of our recruitment process.
Visit our careers website www.sc.com/careers