Senior Legal Counsel Stockbrokers and Portfolio Management (SPM)

As Senior Legal Counsel, you will be the primary legal contact for the SPM business—responsible for overseeing legal risk, delivering strategic legal advice, and ensuring SPM operates within a legally sound, compliant and commercially optimised framework.

You will design and manage the end‑to‑end legal architecture supporting SPM’s discretionary, advisory and execution businesses, ensuring contractual alignment between:

• SPM as product provider

• Clients (stockbroking and portfolio management)

• Absa Bank Limited, CIB, Wealth, Private Bank and other internal business areas

• External counterparties, platforms, brokers and technology partners

This is a critical leadership role in strengthening the legal risk environment and ensuring SPM remains audit‑ready, regulatorily compliant, and commercially protected.

Key Accountabilities:

Technical Legal Expertise

• Draft, negotiate and maintain core SPM agreements, including:

  • Portfolio & Investment Management Agreements

  • Advisor and distribution agreements

  • Technology and platform contracts supporting trading and portfolio management

  • SLAs with internal Absa business areas and external partners

  • Bespoke structures such as notes and fund‑linked solutions

• Ensure alignment with:

  • Trading controls

  • Execution obligations

  • Market conduct requirements

• Translate FAIS, discretionary FSP requirements and mandate‑based obligations into operational legal documents

• Ensure investment mandates, model portfolio governance, client instructions and advice records are legally coherent and enforceable

• Drive consistency across contracts, forms, operational processes and regulatory disclosures

• Oversee change control through Forms Management

• Act as legal escalation point for SPM leadership

• Provide clear legal positions on complex, multi‑party matters

Legal Risk Management

• Provide proactive, commercially grounded legal advice

• Strengthen the legal risk control framework and identify process improvements

• Prioritise and manage workloads according to business needs

• Monitor legal compliance and escalate breaches promptly

• Communicate and distil legal concepts to operational and business stakeholders

Commercial Legal Advisory

• Provide tailored advice on legality, enforceability and commercial appropriateness

• Ensure documents reflect latest legal precedents and best practice

• Support structuring, negotiation and drafting of agreements relating to new products and transactions

• Conduct legal due diligence

• Ensure all risks are captured in agreements and aligned with approved term sheets

• Lead drafting and continuous improvement of standard templates and legal documentation

Risk & Control

• Exercise sound legal risk judgement

• Partner with other control functions to manage cross‑functional risks

Stakeholder Management

• Build strong relationships with senior leaders across Absa

• Serve as the primary legal contact for the SPM business

• Explain legal concepts clearly to business partners

• Deliver training sessions on new legislation or legal developments

• Manage external counsel and represent Absa at industry forums and professional bodies

Teamwork & Legal Leadership

• Mentor and coach junior legal team members

• Support development of best‑practice frameworks and working structures

• Champion Absa’s values and raise the profile of the Legal function

• Participate actively in legal workstreams and initiatives

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Law degree (B Juris / B Proc / LLB)

• Admitted Attorney or Advocate (RSA or equivalent jurisdiction)

• 8–10 years’ PQE with strong financial services and commercial law experience

Preferred

• In‑house legal experience in financial services

• Familiarity with banking, markets, trading or investment products

Personal Attributes

We are looking for a Senior Legal Counsel who is:

• A strong communicator with excellent stakeholder engagement skills

• Detail‑oriented, organised and efficient

• Commercially astute with a strong understanding of risk

• Integrity‑driven and reliable

• Comfortable managing a fluid, high‑pressure workload

• Able to negotiate and influence effectively

• A collaborative team player with strong interpersonal skills

Why Absa?

At Absa, we empower our people to “bring possibilities to life.” In this role, you will influence key decisions, shape legal frameworks for a critical investment business, and work with senior stakeholders across a top African financial institution.