Legal Counsel, Compliance

THE ROLE

 This role will report to the Director of Financial Crime and Compliance and MLRO for EMEA & Asia and will assist with developing, implementing and managing all aspects of compliance in Asia, including providing advice to business groups and senior stakeholders on compliance related matters affecting Sotheby’s business in Asia.  The main focus of this role will be compliance, but the role will also provide assistance to and will support the Litigation Department on contentious matters in Asia.

To be successful in this role, the individual must be a qualified lawyer with an excellent understanding of and experience in regulatory matters and, specifically, in financial crime compliance.  They should have exemplary communication skills and the ability to build strong relationships with our business clients and senior stakeholders.  The right person for this role will be a self-starter who is adept at using their legal knowledge and experience to adopt a risk-based approach to give considered and practical advice and to continue to develop and maintain high standards of compliance in the region.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Supporting and advising on financial crime compliance in Asia, including in relation to anti-money laundering and counter terrorist and proliferation financing (AML/CTPF), sanctions and anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) and corporate offences, and will work with colleagues in the Compliance Department in relation to financial crime compliance in other regions, including EMEA and the US;
• Supporting the MLRO with managing Sotheby’s internal suspicious activity reporting processes and record-keeping in Asia, including the filing of suspicious transaction reports (STRs); acting as the Nominated Officer for Sotheby’s Singapore; and supporting on any regulator audit or risk assessment or other relevant government or regulator engagement in Asia;
• Assisting with developing, maintaining and keeping under review, Sotheby’s business wide risk assessments, policies and procedures in relation to financial crime, including AML/CTPF, sanctions and ABC, and in relation to corporate offences;
• Supporting the continuous development, improvement and implementation of Sotheby’s systems controls, policies, procedures and tools to mitigate financial crime risk, and partnering with Sotheby’s Service Operations, Product & Technology and Date Protection / Information Security teams on the same;
• Equipping existing core operational functions in Asia (for example, pre-sale and post-sale teams and administrators) with adequate anti-financial crime awareness and compliance;
• Acting as point of escalation to advise on and assist with the onboarding of new clients and review of existing clients and their transactions in Asia, including regarding collection and review of client due diligence documents and screening results; resolution of screening results through automated tools (primarily, LSEG Worldcheck); review of existing client due diligence documents and ongoing screening; review and investigation of high-risk clients and transactions; and overseeing enhanced due diligence and recommendations to local senior management on approval of client onboarding or transactions;
• Perform complex enhanced due diligence reports for higher risk clients, counterparties and transactions including involving high risk jurisdictions and politically exposed persons (PEPs);
• Supporting oversight of regulatory affairs in Asia, including for example, the filing of returns and the acceptance of crypto-currencies and sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and assisting with advising on and managing related policies, procedures and escalations;
• Maintaining in-depth knowledge of relevant financial crime and corporate offence regulations, laws and regimes in Asia, and updating relevant staff on any relevant changes and best practices;
• Assisting with developing, maintaining, and delivering an education and training programme in Asia to inform employees on financial crime and other legal, regulatory and ethical matters that exist or which are likely to become relevant and which fall within the remit of the Compliance Department, and maintenance of training records for the same;
• Assisting with maintaining Sotheby’s Code of Business Conduct and non-financial crime compliance policies and procedures (including, for example, anti-trust, conflicts of interest and property due diligence) to ensure that the company and its employees have sufficient information and guidance to allow them to comply with applicable laws and regulations and company-wide policies and ethical standards;
• Providing accurate and timely advice and guidance to Sotheby’s staff in Asia on issues arising from compliance policy areas and subject matters within the responsibility of the Compliance Department, and acting as Data Protection Officer for Singapore;
• Assisting with designing and implementing procedures to monitor the efficacy of the Compliance program, detect issues, violations and areas for improvement relating to policies or legal, regulatory or ethical requirements;
• Supporting senior stakeholders on larger projects in Asia by providing assistance and advice in connection with compliance related aspects;
• Support and attend local governance committee meetings in Asia, for all Compliance matters;
• Taking an active role in knowledge sharing, thought leadership and practice development to ensure Sotheby’s remains abreast of developments in or updates to laws, regulations and practices in Asia in relation to financial crime and corporate offences, and assisting with the same for other matters falling within the remit of the Compliance Department;
• Supporting the Litigation Department with advising on and resolving contentious matters arising from all aspects of Sotheby’s business in Asia, including in relation to contractual terms; title disputes; claims relating to mis-cataloguing, attribution, authenticity of works and / or negligence; and debt recovery related matters; this includes corresponding with clients and their legal and other representatives, and drafting and negotiating settlement agreements and related documentation;
• Assisting with instructing and managing, and working closely with, external counsel in Asia; and helping to manage legal spend on the same;
• Ensuring appropriate record retention and management.

 

IDEAL EXPERIENCE & COMPETENCIES

• 3 plus years of post-qualification experience in a regulatory or financial crime practice area at a leading commercial law firm in HK, Europe or the US (current in-house lawyers will be considered provided they have sufficient prior experience in private practice);
• Comprehensive understanding of applicable anti-money laundering regulations and sanctions regimes, and experience in advising on the same required;
• Proficiency and experience in using relevant screening tools (for example, LSEG Worldcheck, Dow Jones, Lexis Nexis) is helpful;
• Excellent analytical and written skills are vital, able to produce clear, high-quality writing; good communication and presenting skills are also important;
• Ability to assess and balance commercial and regulatory risks, to think strategically and to clearly and concisely provide advice, often in time pressured circumstances;
• Ability to provide clear guidance and workable, commercial solutions on complex and sensitive issues;
• Excellent relationship management and people skills, team player mentality with the ability to work alongside colleagues, and with clients, their representatives and other stakeholders;

• Maintaining excellent stakeholder management and communication skills;
• Professional and calm manner; able to multi-task and prioritise and capable of working independently as well as with a team, and accommodating of other time zones as necessary;
• Native fluency in English with Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) language skills, including ability to read and write traditional and real simplified Chinese required;
• Art law / art industry experience is not required.