EMEA Corporate Governance Attorney

Job Description:

Job Title: Attorney – EMEA Corporate Governance

Location: London

Corporate Title: Director & Associate General Counsel

Company Overview:

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!

Location Overview:

Our London office is based just a stone’s throw from the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral on bustling King Edward Street. Here you’ll find modern workspaces and a state-of-the-art auditorium space. In addition, we’re proud to host an onsite restaurant that shares our commitment to sustainability by providing delicious seasonal menus which have been created with the planet in mind. Make sure to take time for yourself and head up to our rooftop terrace and take in the spectacular views across London. Finally, your physical wellness is well-catered for with our onsite gym facilities and medical centre.

The Team:
The EMEA corporate secretary team is a collegial, professional team comprised of experienced corporate secretaries and attorneys dedicated to providing world class service to management, directors, and the entities we support. We interact with our global Corporate Secretary team to pursue best practices in the industry and within Bank of America.

We are located in Paris, London and Dublin. The Bank of America Corporate Secretary team has approximately 19 team members in EMEA supporting global Corporate Secretary operations, regional legal entities and entity eliminations. We frequently interact with our Legal colleagues in the U.S. and APAC, and with Bank of America management in region and globally.

Responsibilities:

• Lead a team of attorneys and corporate secretaries supporting the regulated UK, Irish and French financial service firms, and lending entities and several other regulated and unregulated EMEA legal entities.
• Ensure entities conduct activities in accordance with applicable company law, local regulatory requirements in respect of corporate governance and Bank of America governance and subsidiary management policies and procedures relevant for the Company Secretarial team.
• Working with management and directors, plan and organise general meetings, board meetings and committee meetings including preparing agendas, drafting resolutions, organising clear and appropriate papers, minute taking, answering director/officer and business line enquiries, and ensuring all board decisions are executed.
• Interface with directors and senior management in region to execute proper governance activities; includes interface with global Bank of America management where necessary.
• Corporate governance subject matter expertise for EU and UK regulated entities.
• Organise and contribute to new director appointments and participate in new director identification process for both internal and external director appointees including guiding proposed appointees through regulatory interviews.  Arrange ongoing training on director responsibilities.
• Respond to/request information from risk management, finance, auditors, senior management, group company secretaries and regulators.
• Oversee the following:
  • Maintenance of the statutory registers and internal corporate governance subsidiary record keeping system
  • Local and outside region filings
  • Operation of signing authorities and delegated authorities
  • Execution of legal documents including POA’s, Certificates of Incumbency, Deeds etc. including notarisation / apostille / legalisation.
  • External company secretarial provider companies
• Where necessary, work with business lines and staff areas to establish new legal entities or close inactive legal entities in line with legislative requirements and internal Bank of America procedures.
• Participate in regional legal entity projects, including corporate restructures

Experience and Skills:

• In-house corporate lawyer with company secretary experience and experience of corporate laws and regulations in the EU, England and across the EMEA region
• Law degree required with strong post qualification experience
• Large law firm training and/or in-house Legal department experience; financial institution experience preferred.
• Ability to manage responsibilities across multiple jurisdictions and time zones and manage a high volume of work and clients in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work well with teams and enterprise corporate secretaries globally.
• Ability to communicate clearly and persuasively, both verbally and in writing, and to adapt to a variety of audiences.
• Ability to be successful in a global, matrixed organisation.
• Proficient in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Excellent organisational skills with dedication to extraordinary service
• Highly motivated self-starter with ability to multi-task and complete assignments within time constraints and deadlines
• Proficiency in interacting with senior management.
• Familiarity with Diligent Entities (or similar entity management system) desirable; familiarity with Diligent Boards (or similar board portal application for assembling and distributing meeting materials)
• Financial sector experience is desirable, but not essential as training will be provided

Benefits of working at Bank of America:

UK

• Private healthcare for you and your family plus an annual health screen to help you manage your physical wellness with the option to purchase a screen for your partner
• Competitive pension plan, life assurance and group income protection cover if you become unable to work as a result of a disability or health reasons
• 20 days of back-up childcare including access to school holiday clubs and 20 days of back-up adult care per annum 
• The ability to change your core benefits as well as the option of selecting a variety of flexible benefits to suit your personal circumstances including access to a wellbeing account, travel insurance, critical illness etc.
• Access to an emotional wellbeing helpline, mental health first aiders and virtual GP services.
• Access to an Employee Assistance Program for confidential support and help for everyday matters
• Ability to donate to charities of your choice directly through payroll and the bank will match your contribution
• Opportunity to access our Arts & Culture corporate membership program and receive discounted entry to some of the UK’s most iconic cultural institutions and exhibitions.
• Opportunity to give back to your community, develop new skills and work with new groups of people by volunteering in your local community.

Bank of America:

Good conduct and sound judgment are crucial to our long-term success. It’s important that all employees in the organisation understand the expected standards of conduct and how we manage conduct risk. Individual accountability and an ownership mind-set are the cornerstones of our Code of Conduct and are at the heart of managing risk well.

We are an equal opportunities employer and ensure that no applicant is subject to less favourable treatment on the grounds of sex, gender identity or gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, race, religion or belief, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, socio-economic background, responsibility for dependants or physical or mental disability. The Bank selects candidates for interview based on their skills, qualifications, and experience.

We strive to ensure that our recruitment processes are accessible for all candidates and encourage any candidates to tell us about any adjustment requirements.