Assistant General Counsel, Vice President, APAC

Job Description:

At Bank of America, we are guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better through the power of every connection. Responsible Growth is how we run our company and how we deliver for our clients, teammates, communities and shareholders every day.
 
One of the keys to driving Responsible Growth is being a great place to work for our teammates around the world. We’re devoted to being a diverse and inclusive workplace for everyone. We hire individuals with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences and invest heavily in our teammates and their families by offering competitive benefits to support their physical, emotional, and financial well-being.
 
Bank of America believes both in the importance of working together and offering flexibility to our employees. We use a multi-faceted approach for flexibility, depending on the various roles in our organization.
 
Working at Bank of America will give you a great career with opportunities to learn, grow and make an impact, along with the power to make a difference. Join us!

Job Description:
Responsible for the analysis of complex legal issues and implications on matters of significant impact to the GBAM's Equity Derivatives businesses. Provides advice on new or existing products or services. Coordinates the work of outside legal counsel on related projects. Supervises activities of other legal department staff, including other attorneys, paralegals, and support staff. Individuals in this position typically have eight or more years of experience since admission to the Bar. May manage others.

Responsibilities:

• The Attorney is a member of the Asia Pacific Legal Department.  The role will involve providing legal analysis and advice to the Equities business (and various support functions) in the Asia Pacific region with a primary focus on prime brokerage, securities lending, and OTC equity swaps & derivatives.  From time to time, the role will involve providing assistance to other lawyers on the team in relation to the broad spectrum of products and documents covered by the team, including bespoke structured equity financing transactions.  The role is located in Hong Kong.
• Day-to-day legal analysis and advice in relation to
  • Prime brokerage
  • Securities lending
  • OTC swaps & equity derivatives
• From time to time, may be asked to assist with the other product areas covered by the broader team, including:
  • Structured equity financing transactions
  • Custody and client asset/money regulations

• Advising on document negotiations relating to our Prime Brokerage, Securities Lending, and OTC Equity Swaps & Derivatives platforms
• Advising and guiding our documentation teams and negotiators together with Trading, Sales, and Risk
• Taking the lead on negotiations of margin lock-up agreements
• Developing and managing templates for jurisdiction-specific terms for market access products (eg India ODIs, China QFII, Taiwan FINI-related terms) and new transaction types (eg accumulators and reverse convertible variations)
• From time to time, assisting with the negotiation of documentation relating to structured equity financing transactions
• Evaluating and advising on the impact of regulatory and licensing issues/developments on prime brokerage services, securities lending, and OTC swaps and derivatives
• Evaluating and advising on various new proposals, projects and initiatives
• Representing Bank of America on relevant industry working groups
• Reviewing and remediating existing documents and templates in connection with regulatory reform projects
• Engaging and managing external counsel in various jurisdictions to obtain quality advice concerning a range of regulatory issues (including licensing issues)
• Fielding enquiries arising from various Equities sales & trading desks
• Working with other members of the Equities Legal team and other legal teams in Asia Pacific, EMEA and the US
• Assisting with broader Legal department projects, as required
• Working with Compliance, Operations, Risk and other departments to ensure proper risk management, governance and control of business units

Skills:

• Junior to mid-level lawyer admitted to practice in Hong Kong (or in another common law jurisdiction) with at least 4+ years PQE
• Experience of investment banking (preferably markets businesses) in an in-house legal department or through private practice advisory work
• Broad experience of legal advisory work on prime brokerage, securities lending, and OTC swaps and derivatives documentation
• Ability to work rapidly and effectively under time pressure
• Ability to communicate effectively by being clear and concise in oral and written communications, and to ask questions when unsure
• Strong interpersonal and social skills with team-work oriented mindset is a must as you will work along side other lawyers on the team to deliver timely advise and guidance to the various business groups.
• Strong attention to detail
• Ability to think critically and flexibly, and proactively suggest solutions to achieve the relevant business goals
• Excellent research and legal writing skills
• Willingness to work as a member of a local, regional and global team and strong curiosity in developments/changes in financial practice and environment
• Mandarin language skills are an advantage