Role Summary

As a Senior Legal Counsel for Financial Markets, you will play a critical role in supporting our global banking operations by providing expert legal advice specific to financial markets transactions. This position demands a thorough understanding of complex financial products, regulatory requirements, and market practices. You will be expected to advise business partners on transactional structures, legal risks, and regulatory compliance to ensure our activities align with both Standard Chartered’s strategic objectives and applicable laws.

The role requires close collaboration with cross-functional teams including front office, risk, compliance, and external legal counsel to negotiate, draft and review documentation related to derivatives, debt capital markets, and other financial instruments. Your input will contribute to the maintenance of high standards in legal governance and operational resilience, crucial for managing ambiguities and fast-evolving regulatory landscapes.

Role Responsibilities

We are looking for a motivated legal professional with strong expertise in financial markets law and regulatory frameworks in Hong Kong and globally. 

• Providing timely, pragmatic legal advice supporting Financial Markets products and transactions.
• Reviewing and negotiating transactional documents including ISDA agreements, trade confirmations, and other financial market contracts.
• Supporting business units during product launches, business restructuring, or new market entries with comprehensive legal guidance
• Leading and managing legal risks associated with complex cross-border transactions.
• Participating in cross-border initiatives and external industry forums to influence evolving market regulations and best practices.
• Collaborating with various stakeholders to shape and influence business initiatives complying with internal policies and external regulatory obligations.
• Assessing and advising on regulatory impacts stemming from financial market reforms, sanctions, and compliance obligations.
• Maintaining strong relationships with regulators, external counsel, and industry groups to stay abreast of market and regulatory developments.

Role Requirements

The ideal candidate will be highly action-oriented, showing an ability to manage ambiguity and complex situations with courage and integrity. You should be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment where collaboration and customer focus are paramount.

Key requirements include;

• Qualified Lawyer with at least 5-8 Years PQE
• A strong understanding of derivatives, securities, and debt instruments, coupled with exposure to capital markets.
• Excellent communication skills to provide clarity and guidance across diverse teams. Chinese speaking is advantageous however not a must
• A strategic mindset aligned with commercial objectives, balancing legal risk and business opportunity effectively.
• Technical competence in interpreting regulatory requirements and implementing compliant processes.

We value professionals who naturally instil trust through ethical conduct and whose nimble learning style adapts swiftly to changing circumstances and new challenges. Your decision-making quality and willingness to voice informed opinions will be instrumental to our ongoing success.

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 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
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What we offer

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 leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months 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.