Legal Counsel, Head of Legal Paris

Do you want your voice heard and your actions to count?

Discover your opportunity with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the world’s leading financial groups. Across the globe, we’re 120,000 colleagues, striving to make a difference for every client, organization, and community we serve. We stand for our values, building long-term relationships, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.

With a vision to be the world’s most trusted financial group, it’s part of our culture to put people first, listen to new and diverse ideas and collaborate toward greater innovation, speed and agility. This means investing in talent, technologies, and tools that empower you to own your career.

Join MUFG, where being inspired is expected and making a meaningful impact is rewarded.

Overview of the Department/Section

MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group) is one of the world's leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with approximately 350 years of history, MUFG is a global network with around 2,300 offices in over 50 countries including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia and Oceania, and East Asia. The group has over 150,000 employees, offering services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing.

As one of the top financial groups globally with a vision to be the world's most trusted, we want to attract, nurture and retain the most talented individuals in the market. The size and range of MUFG's global business creates opportunities for our employees to stretch themselves and reap the rewards, whilst our common values, to behave with integrity and responsibility, and to build a culture which is fair, transparent, and honest, underpin everything that we do. We aim to be the financial partner of choice for our clients, whatever their requirements, building long-term relationships, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.

MUFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: MTU) stock exchanges. The group’s operating companies include, but are not limited to, MUFG Bank, Ltd. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (Japan's leading trust bank), Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings (“MUSHD”) (one of Japan's largest securities firms), and MUFG Americas Holdings.

MUFG Bank, Ltd., Paris branch is a branch of MUFG Bank Ltd headquartered in Tokyo. Operating as a Third Country Branch, MUFG Bank Paris is licensed by Banque de France, and monitored by ACPR and AMF. MUFG Bank Paris provides, since 1962, financial and banking services to Corporate Clients (both French and Japanese) generating an annual gross profit of approx. EUR 200 million. MUFG Bank Paris’ total balance sheet amounts to circa 10 billion.

The Legal department’s principal functions are to:

• Provide legal services and legal advice to the banking and securities businesses
• Draft, review and negotiate contractual documentation, whether transactional or non-transactional
• Draft structured notes and other product documentation and arrange for issuance of such notes and products
• Provide structuring, legal and execution advice in relation to transactions and new business
• Provide transaction management support for securities issues and financing transactions arranged or underwritten by an international securities business
• Evaluate legal risk business is conducted in a lawful and professional manner
• Identify and advise on the implementation of new laws and regulations
• Provide legal oversight of regulatory matters and government affairs
• Provide all corporate secretariat and corporate governance services
• Manage all disputes, litigation, regulatory proceedings and other contentious matters
• Manage and approve all use of law firms

Main Purpose of the Role

The EMEA Legal Department (Legal) provides legal services to and manages legal risk for MUFG Bank EMEA, MUFG Securities EMEA and the MUSHD International Business (collectively, the Firm). In managing legal risk, Legal seeks to develop and implement policies and procedures in order that the Firm’s contracts are legally appropriate, the Firm manages litigation and regulatory proceedings effectively, the Firm complies with laws and regulations and the Firm receives appropriate and timely legal advice on regulatory changes.

The candidate manages the legal team in Paris in cooperation with the EMEA Legal functional managers and oversees the framework for managing legal risk in Paris. The candidate is responsible for providing legal advice on a wide range of commercial and investment banking transactions and operations within MUFG.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted advisor to Paris Branch management and as an integral part of Legal.
• Perform a combination of transactional, advisory and governance work.
• Advise on complex regulatory projects and strategic goals and identify new opportunities created by new rules and regulation that align with the strategy of the MUFG Group.
• Cooperate within the EMEA Legal department (and globally) on various projects and strategic initiatives.
• Provide day-to-day senior expertise and support to more junior Legal team members.
• Manage team members in Legal.
• Assist Paris Branch Management and EMEA Legal Management with their respective strategies and help formulate budgetary plans.
• Monitor, identify and advise on legal, governance, regulatory and market developments arising under significant regulatory changes to which the MUFG Group is subject.
• Provide legal advice on projects.
• Review, draft and negotiate documentation and provide all related execution management.
• Improve existing and create new processes and procedures to improve efficiency of Legal.
• Provide day-to-day support on a wide range of legal issues to a number of business units.
• Develop, maintain and implement document templates, know-how and procedures.
• Maintain relationships with Panel Law Firms.
• Monitor legal updates and provide updates to EMEA Legal and relevant stakeholders.
• Identify business opportunities which align with MUFG Group’s strategy.
• Provide training on legal and regulatory issues to employees of the MUFG Group.
• Participate in working groups and committees of MUFG Group.
• Participate in industry forums and working groups.

Work Experience

• Demonstrable senior experience in legal industry
• Qualified French lawyer
• Demonstrable senior experience working on a range of transactions in global markets, loans and bonds, transaction banking, regulatory, commercial and corporate governance matters in an international environment
• Demonstrable senior experience in leading, advising and supporting on multiple projects and strategic initiatives
• Demonstrable experience in advising C-suite/executives in financial services industry

Skills and Experience

Functional / Technical Competencies:

• Knowledge of key relevant legal, regulatory and statutory requirements, technical interpretation and the ability to provide advice thereon
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects at once, follow through and meet deadlines
• Financial services experience, in an in-house role or a top tier law firm
• Ability to be versatile and manage multiple workstreams
• Strong negotiation, facilitation and conflict resolution skills

Personal Requirements

• Bilingual (French/English)
• Excellent communication skills
• Results driven, with a strong sense of accountability
• Ability and confidence to challenge existing processes and procedures
• A proactive, motivated approach
• The ability to operate with urgency and efficiency and prioritize work accordingly
• Strong decision-making skills, the ability to demonstrate sound judgement with a strong sense of integrity
• The ability to present technical content in a clear and concise manner
• The ability to identify new business opportunities
• A structured and logical approach to work
• Strong problem-solving skills
• A diplomatic approach to conflict solving
• A creative and innovative approach to work
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Team player
• The ability to manage large workloads and tight deadlines
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy
• A calm approach, with the ability to perform well in a pressurized environment
• The ability to provide feedback in a motivational way
• A mentor and role model for junior team members
• An interest and participation in CSR and D&I initiatives
• Strong numerical skills
• Excellent Microsoft Office skills

Personal alignment to MUFG Values

• Integrity & Responsibility
• Professionalism & Teamwork
• Challenge ourselves to grow

• Personal alignment to EMEA Cultural Principles
  • Client Centric
  • People Focused
  • Listen Up, Speak Up
  • Innovate & Simplify
  • Own & Execute

We are open to considering flexible working requests in line with organisational requirements.

MUFG is committed to embracing diversity and building an inclusive culture where all employees are valued, respected and their opinions count. We support the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion in recruitment and employment, and oppose all forms of discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender reassignment, religion or belief and marriage or civil partnership.

We make our recruitment decisions in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our commitment to identifying the right skills for the right role and our obligations under the law.