Financial Crime Lawyer

Purpose of the role

To ensure that the institution's activities are conducted in compliance with applicable financial crime laws and regulations, and to help the bank manage legal and reputational risks associated with its activities.

Accountabilities

• Development and implementation of best practice legal strategies for risk management and compliance.
• Legal advice and support to the business on financial crime laws, regulations, and rules, including AML, sanctions, and ABC laws.
• Support other legal teams in representation of the bank in legal proceedings that raise financial crime issues, such as litigation, arbitration, and regulatory investigations.
• Advising on financial crime compliance policies and procedures, including assessing compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
• Legal research and analysis to stay up to date on changes in laws and regulations that may impact the bank's financial crime compliance practices.
• Support Compliance by contributing to and delivering training to educate employees on legal and regulatory requirements related to financial crime.
• Pro active identification, communication, and provision of legal advice on applicable laws, rules and regulations (LRRs).
• Keeping up to date with changes to LRRs in the relevant coverage area.
• Ensuring that LRRs are effectively allocated to, and adequately reflected within, the relevant policies, standards and controls.

Expectations

• Contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change.
• Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalating breaches of policies/procedures.
• If managing a team, define jobs and responsibilities, plan for department's future needs and operations, counsel employees on performance, contribute to employee pay decisions/changes, lead specialists to influence operations, balance short and long term goals, and meet corporate budgets and schedules.
• For an individual contributor, act as subject matter expert, guide technical direction, lead collaborative, multi year assignments, coach less experienced specialists, and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks, and strategic decisions.
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, support control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work the team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of organisational functions to contribute to achieving business goals.
• Collaborate with other areas of work to stay up to speed with business activity and strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought, compare and select complex alternatives, and apply extensive research in problem solving.
• Build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

LEAD Behaviours

• Listen and be authentic (L)
• Energise and inspire (E)
• Align across the enterprise (A)
• Develop others (D)

Essential Skills and Experience

• Qualified lawyer (Solicitor, Barrister, Attorney or equivalent).
• Experience in AML, ABC, CTF, or sanctions.
• Understanding of legal risk management in a financial institution.
• Previous experience working in house within the financial services industry, or experience representing the financial services industry in other contexts (e.g., law firm).
• Capabilities in risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking, digital and technology, and job specific technical skills.
• Ability to provide consistently excellent, timely, high quality and commercially focused legal and regulatory advice on complex AML, CTF, sanctions, and ABC matters.
• Leadership for significant investigations involving AML/CTF, sanctions and ABC, and leading policy efforts for these issues.

Location

London or Manchester.