Associate, Finance

The Opportunity

Primary Responsibilities

Practice area – Finance (LFD)

Main areas covered - Derivatives and structured finance

We provide legal services in the derivatives area to a wide range of entities both on the buy-side and the sell-side. On the buy-side, we act for corporates in a multitude of sectors, and for a variety of investment and pension funds and their investment managers. On the sell-side we act for a range of banks and financial institutions including Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, BNPP, Citigroup, SG and UBS.

The Role - Derivatives, Structured Credit, Securitisation and Structured Finance

Our derivatives and structured products team advises on the full range of derivatives transactions and structured products, together with associated regulatory matters.  Our team covers over-the-counter (OTC), exchange traded and derivatives-based securities, as well as repurchase and securities lending agreements.

Our main areas of focus include:

• OTC products: including commodity, credit, currency/FX equity, fund and interest rate derivatives, as well as structured products and insurance related products and structures.

• Highly structured financing transactions: including margin loans, total return swap facilities and strategic equity transactions (including funded and synthetic products).

• Securities financing transactions: including repo, structured repo and stock lending facilities, over both liquid and illiquid assets. 

• Negotiating futures, commodity trading agreements, prime brokerage, clearing and other trading facilities as well as related custody and collateral agreements. 

• Advising on issues related to distressed investments, credit and succession events and settlement questions regarding credit default swaps.

• Analysing the liquidity, credit, insolvency, netting and regulatory risks.

• Advising on compliance with laws and regulations relating to the derivatives and futures industry, evolving trading infrastructure and litigation matters, including EMIR and SFTR.

We also have a strong structured credit, securitisation and structured finance practice, as well as a large energy/project finance practice, and our derivatives team works closely with those practices to deliver highly structured derivative solutions used in those markets. 

The successful candidate will have some experience in derivatives, and preferably will have had exposure to other finance areas (such as securitisation, structured finance and energy/project finance), but these are not essential. He or she will ideally have trained at a peer private practice firm or a large bank, hedge fund or other similar institution. 

Key responsibilities

• Expected to support and lead where appropriate (including negotiating) in transactions (with appropriate supervision)

• Responsible for drafting discrete pieces of legal advice for clients (with appropriate supervision)

• Encouraged to adopt a client-facing role, building relationships with clients and identifying and acting on opportunities

• Qualifications, skills and experience

• Between 0 and 3 years PQE

• Excellent academics

• Some experience in derivatives. In addition, ideally some experience in other finance areas such as securitisation, structured finance and energy/project finance

• The desire and ability to help grow and develop our practice

Competencies

We would expect the successful candidate to have trained  at a peer private practice firm or a large bank, hedge fund or other similar institution but would consider those with other experience providing they meet the required competencies:

Technical

• Legal ability – an early understanding of legal and practical issues relating to practice area, including to draft documentation or advice for circulation to clients, demonstrating early ability to identify issues from a commercial perspective and able to communicate straightforward legal  advice and analysis to clients effectively

• Delivering excellent client service - excellent communications skills, driven to deliver to clients promptly, sets themselves challenging goals and resilient in achieving them

Client

• Finding and winning – early signs of being able to build network with current client contacts and monitors business press to identify potential opportunities, assists in preparation of proposals, estimates and pitches

• Practice/firm promotion – assists with preparation of presentations, articles and bulletins

• Developing and retaining – builds relationships with peers at client organisations and demonstrates professional approach with clients, quickly gaining their confidence and directly dealing with clients

People

• Leadership and management - willing to support and offer advice to less experienced members of the team (eg trainees)

• Initiative and managing change - resilient in the face of multiple priorities, displays flexibility and strikes a balance between relying on others and pro-actively initiating progress

• Teamwork and communication – builds relationships in own and other practice areas, adapts style to suit audience

• Impact and personal development - proactively requests feedback from others, able to deal with constructive criticism and takes ownership for self-development

Firm

• Financial performance - familiar with key drivers of firm performance, seeking ways to optimise utilisation

• Risk management and professional ethics - takes responsibility for personal and professional ethics, understanding of reputational risk and the regulatory framework, prepared to seek advice where appropriate

• Knowledge management - shares knowledge with others proactively, consults with senior technical experts where appropriate

• Firm contribution - high level of personal integrity, contributes to developing a diverse and innovative culture, prepared to go the extra mile

Behavioural competencies

• Ability to use initiative and be pro-active;

• Strong organisational skills and ability to prioritise;

• Excellent attention to detail;

• Enthusiastic, positive and committed team member;

• Ability to cope with conflicting demands and meet deadlines;

• Attention to detail with a high level of accuracy;

• Communicates effectively at all levels, both verbally and written;

• Promotes a collegiate environment, good team morale and a spirit of co-operation;

• Team player.

Team

Finance & RestructuringFull time

Location

London

Contract type

Permanent Contract

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to attracting people from all backgrounds and creating a respectful and inclusive culture where everyone thrives. We see this as essential to our success, including our ability to innovate and achieve sustained high performance. This is a key part of our Values—Human, Bold, and Outstanding.