Senior Debt Finance Lawyer - Director Level | London, UK

Senior Debt Finance Lawyer - Director Level

Looking for a senior lawyer specialising in debt finance for an initial 12 month contract.

The ideal candidate will be helping to work on pure debt finance matters for the banks bilateral and syndicated lending business lines, which include project finance, leverage finance, fund finance, real estate finance, corporate lending, etc.

The Financing Lawyer, director level role, supports the Head of Financing UK in providing pro-active, effective and timely legal support and advice, transaction assistance and project work for the businesses and functions of Global Banking and the lending activities of Capital Markets in the banks London Branch, as well as, where relevant, providing advice to other entities of the Group on matters of English law relating to Financing Activities, daily banking, cash management and corporate finance. The Financing Lawyer director will lead and manage transactions and project work relating to Global Banking and Financing in the UK and across EMEA and oversee the work of more junior members of the UK Financing Legal team.

• Provides pro-active, effective and timely legal support and advice to the Global Banking businesses and the lending activities of Capital Markets businesses and functions within the banks London Branch on complex financing legal matters, including in relation to (i) structuring of transactions, (ii) drafting, negotiation and review of legal documents and (iii) execution of transactions and advising on problem loans/transactions.
• Leads a variety of Global Banking & Financing transactions and projects, including those within the Value Preservation Group as well TACs / NACs (Transaction Approval and New Activity Committees).
• Deputises for the Head of Financing LEGAL UK when appropriate, helping to manage and oversee the workload across the team including co-ordinating with other legal teams as appropriate/teams in other jurisdictions.
• Responsible for supporting and developing the relationships with business stakeholders to fully understand business requirements and develop appropriate support, ensuring that a high quality service is delivered to provide effective and timely legal advice to the business.
• Supports and provides guidance to other team members as required, in line with any set objectives, and co-ordinates with other teams within LEGAL both within the UK and globally as appropriate.
• Supports the Head of Financing LEGAL UK in developing and defining the global governance and in ensuring all relevant controls and procedures within the team are followed.
• Assists LEGAL UK and Financing LEGAL initiatives as to training, know-how preparation and expertise sharing, and participates in the effective rollout and use of cross-border IT tools and systems including SharePoint, Matter Management and others.
• Provides and/or supervises and manages other team members to provide training on Financing to the LEGAL team and/or business stakeholders.
• Raises legal risks within the scope of Financing LEGAL activity, including the accurate reporting of risks in the SARA system where required; assists as required on matters relating to permanent control topics covered by LEGAL UK or Financing LEGAL.
• Represents the banks LEGAL, as appropriate, on internal/external business industry fora and groups covering relevant business activities.
• Oversees the work of more junior members of the Financing Legal team in the UK.

• English law (or equivalent) qualified Banking and Finance lawyer with expert knowledge of Finance law, including general corporate bilateral and syndicated lending as well as structured lending such as real estate finance, fund finance, projects/infrastructure finance, and leverage finance as well as cash management and daily banking, or very experienced professional with significant expertise in Financing law in the UK/EMEA. Broad knowledge of best practice across the Legal function.
• Expert knowledge of specific legal and/or Bank wide policies, procedures, regulations and legislation relevant to GB & Financing.
• Good working knowledge of professional standards and applicable protocols and an ability to apply them to the business to develop and improve the Bank's internal processes and practices.
• Good commercial and communication skills along with experience of successfully managing the working relationship with senior business stakeholders.