Senior Legal Counsel - Global Banking

This role offers an exceptional opportunity to provide comprehensive legal support, contribute to the implementation of our Europe regional agenda, and offer expert advice on new products and initiatives within the region. The successful candidate will play an instrumental part in the management and mitigation of legal risks, ensuring adherence to policies and procedures, and fostering strong working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders across the organization.

Responsibilities:

• Provide comprehensive legal support to UK and Europe Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking transactional business.
• Contribute to the implementation of Bank's Europe regional agenda, including pertinent regulatory reforms and initiatives.
• Offer expert legal advice on new products and initiatives for Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking in Europe.
• Identify, evaluate, manage, monitor, mitigate, and report legal risks across the European region for Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking.
• Assist Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking business teams with occasional immaterial disputes.
• Support Legal teams in other regions within the Bank network as needed.
• Implement and support the vision, strategy, and direction for the legal team assisting Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking in Europe.
• Prioritize the regional agenda for Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking in Europe, in alignment with wider Bank priorities and Regional General Counsel and Head, Legal, Global Credit Markets and Transaction Banking, Europe.

Strategy:

• Support the Europe Legal team and the broader Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking Legal function in achieving their strategic objectives.
• Provide regional legal support for the Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking business and, when necessary, the global businesses.
• Under the guidance of Head, Legal, Global Credit Markets Lending and Transaction Banking, Europe and the Regional General Counsel, offer regional legal support and ensure the regulatory reform agenda for these sectors is effectively managed and operationalized in Europe, collaborating with other stakeholders such as Regulatory Reform team, Compliance, Risk, Chief Operating Officer, business, and other support functions.

Business:

• Maintain awareness and understanding of the broader business, economic, and market environment in which the Group operates.
• Deliver pragmatic and well-informed legal advice while upholding Legal's role as the Bank's guardian of legal risk.
• Respond promptly to stakeholder inquiries.
• Manage the quality and cost of legal services provided by external law firms and approve their selection.

Processes:

• Identify and ensure compliance with internal policies, procedures, processes, and related dispensation procedures.
• Be aware of and understand relevant Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking product programs.

People & Talent:

• Cultivate strong working relationships with legal colleagues across the Bank's wider Legal team.
• Build collaborative relationships with business and other stakeholders within the region and the broader Standard Chartered Bank network.

Risk Management:

• Interpret legal documentation, statutes, regulation, and advice to identify key issues and assist in implementing appropriate controls and measures.
• Support the Head, Legal, Global Credit Markets Lending and Transaction Banking as the process risk control owner under the Group's Risk Management Framework, including relevant Operational Risk Framework ownership for Legal documentation risk.

Governance:

• Aid the business in ensuring compliance with the Group's overall Risk Management Framework, including identifying, assessing, managing, monitoring, mitigating, and reporting legal risks across Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking in Europe.
• Ensure adherence to policies, procedures, and standards addressing legal risks on transactions you work on.

Regulatory & Business Conduct:

• Exhibit exemplary conduct and embody the Group's Values and Code of Conduct.
• Take personal responsibility for embedding the highest standards of ethics, including regulatory and business conduct, across company. This includes understanding and ensuring compliance with, in letter and spirit, all applicable laws, regulations, guidelines, and the Group Code of Conduct.

Other Responsibilities:

• Collaborate closely with Group Dispute Resolution and Group Special Asset Management teams for input into litigation and restructuring matters concerning supported departments.
• Report any audit issues, claims, disputes, or litigation involving covered areas.
• When external counsel is appointed, liaise with them, ensure the scope of work is defined and appropriate, oversee the quality of work, manage external legal costs, and ensure proper overall matter management.
• Anticipate and escalate the impact of regulatory reform, horizon legal risks, or litigation involving competitors in Europe that may have a significant impact on the bank.

Key Stakeholders:

• Europe Legal team and SCB Legal colleagues across the Bank.
• Appropriate colleagues in the Transaction Banking, Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking Sales and Product teams,
• Appropriate colleagues in other functions such as Compliance, Credit, Trade Credit Insurance and Distribution teams, Tax, Operations.

Role-Specific Technical Competencies:

• Qualified solicitor in England & Wales with a strong post-qualification experience in a reputable law firm or financial institution.
• Demonstrated expertise in Transaction Banking (particularly Trade Finance), Global Credit Markets, and Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking.
• In-depth knowledge and experience in Trade Finance structures, Cash structures, and Loan Market Association documentation; additional experience in Real Estate Finance and/or Fund Finance is highly desirable.
• Proven track record in legal analysis, risk management, and mitigation within the financial sector.
• Strong familiarity with the regulatory framework for the above products and ; experience in implementing and managing regulatory reform initiatives is a plus.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to effectively engage with stakeholders at various levels and foster collaboration within and across teams.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks and projects, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality legal advice and support.
• Adaptable and proactive in identifying potential legal risks and providing innovative and strategic solutions to complex issues.

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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.
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 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.

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