Legal Counsel, Compliance and Legal Department

Job Responsibilities- Provide legal advice and support to all business units within the financial institution and the group as well as assisting the Head of Legal in providing broad legal advice to management in order to protect interests of the bank and to minimize legal risks;

• Review and negotiate corporate banking documentation, including but not limited to committed and uncommitted bilateral and syndicated loans, risk / funded participation agreements, guarantees, indemnities; and trade finance documents (eg letters of credit, performance bonds, trade-related finance contracts and advance payments bonds);
• Review and negotiate security documentation such as mortgages, share charges, debentures, deposit agreements, escrow agreements, inter creditor agreements and so on;
• Draft and negotiate commercial business documentation - IT contracts, premises and property related contracts (including leases and tenancy agreements) and service level agreements;
• General knowledge and experience in reviewing documentation for OTC derivatives (eg ISDA Master Agreement and other ISDA documentation, GMRA and so on) would be a bonus;
• Coordinate and participate in corporate projects and new product development to identify legal / regulatory issues; and

• Formulate and revise policies and guidelines and coordinate with relevant departments to ensure compliance with new and revised legal and regulatory requirements.

  Qualifications and competencies required:- Qualified lawyer in the Hong Kong SAR;

• Ideally minimum 5 years of legal experience in banking / finance from top international law firms and / or top international financial institutions. Candidates with less years of experience may also be considered;
• Sound knowledge in banking laws and regulatons (including but not limited to knowledge in the Banking Ordinance, Securities and Futures Ordinance, Companies Ordinance and so on) with familiarity with Hong Kong and PRC commercial practice;
• Strong drafting, negotiation, analytical, and communication skills; with strong ability to inspire team mates and other colleagues and generate people's commitment and to prioritize workload;
• Be very proactive and work effectively with internal stake-holders across front office, compliance, internal control, operational and credit risk functions and so on; and be willing offer commercially-friendly advice from legal perspective;
• Ability to timely and appropriately identify and escalate issues; and to apply legal skills in new businesses and products in which the lawyer may not have expertise, and with willingness to develop and excel beyond her / his comfort zone;
• Self-motivated, meticulous, independent and able to work under pressure; and
• Good command of both written and spoken English and Chinese with knowledge of Putonghua.