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Macfarlanes
,
London, Greater London
Derivatives and trading paralegal
Overview
Job Description
We are looking to recruit a paralegal into our derivatives and trading group to assist in a specific project management role. About Macfarlanes We are an independent London-based law firm with a high profile client base from around the world. We are known for the quality of our work, both in terms of our ability to handle the full range of corporate and commercial matters, and the fact that we can advise our clients on their private affairs. We handle work of the highest quality and complexity on a wide range of matters. Our size and partner-led approach enable us to give our clients a more personal service underpinned by the highest standards of commitment and care. As well as that, our independence allows us to choose precisely the right lawyer or firm for our clients' needs in any jurisdiction in the world. Practice overview Our derivatives and trading practice consists of two partners, one FX & derivatives negotiator, 10 solicitors, two trainee solicitors and five paralegals. The group represent hedge funds, corporate treasuries, financial institutions, managed account platforms, asset managers and high-net-worth individuals in structuring, negotiating and executing complex and bespoke derivative instruments. Our team works alongside our specialist lawyers in financial services, regulatory, capital markets, tax and dispute resolution and is able to advise on both the day-to-day trading requirements of our clients, and the most complex derivative and structured product transactions in both transactional and contentious roles. The team prides itself on not only knowing the legal issues inside out, across a broad spectrum of standard form and bespoke documents, but also on understanding the strategies, risks and operational issues that affect the clients. Our team advise on a wide range of products including repos, stock loans and all kinds of derivative, covering interest rate, fixed income, currency, commodity, equity, credit, basket and index underliers. The team routinely advises on matters such as, prime brokerage and clearing, and issues around rehypothecation and segregation, custody and collateral, securities lending and margin financing matters, repos, structured products, exchange traded derivatives, central clearing including OTC clearing under Dodd-Frank and EMIR, cash equities and cash bond trading under broker terms of business and electronic trading arrangements. Our client base is also global; we act for managers in the UK, the US, Europe and the Far East (with a particular concentration of clients in Hong Kong) and we have daily experience negotiating for these clients with the international offices of the leading US, Asian and European banks and broker dealers. The issues we face are global. We routinely advise on practical issues of trading in the US markets, on structuring offshore derivative instruments accessing the Chinese, Indian and emerging markets and on dealing with multiple regulatory regimes. Further details about our derivatives and trading group, the work we do and examples of recent deals can be found on our website. The role The role entails co-ordinating the launch of new hedge funds for a major investment banking client of the group, and managing on-going negotiations and legal issues following each launch, as well as implementing regulatory driven changes and on-going matters. You will work closely with one of the partners and a team of solicitors in the group and together with another paralegal, you will be responsible for keeping each workstream on track. In addition, you will assist with negotiations of some trade and financing documents and may be asked to research and review points of law and market practice. You will be in daily contact with the client, hedge fund managers, and brokers across the world's leading financial centres. This job description encompasses the main duties of the role and is by no means exhaustive. It is anticipated that duties may vary from time to time according to the needs of the practice area. The candidate Broadly, we want to recruit a paralegal that fulfils the following criteria: * Strong academic qualifications from A Levels, with a minimum 2:1 degree. * Some work experience from a highly regarded derivatives practice or financial institution is desirable - in particular in the broker-dealer or hedge fund community. * Ability to work across teams - the role will require the paralegal to work with investment banks, hedge funds and other law firms across multiple jurisdictions. * Excellent organisational skills - the role is process-orientated, organising negotiation and document execution to very demanding timetables. * Ambitious, with a genuine commitment to develop their professional and legal skills. * Articulate and confident to deliver at the highest standard in a fast-paced environment. We take a flexible approach to recruitment and aim to recruit people that we believe show talent, motivation and potential - so there is some f