Senior Legal Counsel, Islamic Banking

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

• Provide legal advice and support to the business while keeping in mind strategic and business objectives.
• Provide direction and guidance to facilitate compliance with all applicable international and domestic laws, rules and regulations.
• Collaborate with the Head of Legal Global Corporate Finance & Islamic Banking to establish, disseminate and implement Group legal policies.
• Complete legal tasks and projects in a timely manner and respond to legal queries assigned by the Head of Legal Global Corporate Finance & Islamic Banking.
• Support subsidiaries and international branches by providing general legal oversight on legal risks associated with the Global Corporate Finance products and services.
• Draft, review and negotiate contracts and other legal documents to maximise Group legal protections while minimising risks.
• Produce and regularly update standardised legal agreements, contracts and standard terms and conditions in compliance with international best practices and applicable legal requirements.
• Assist the business in launching new products and conduct legal and regulatory due diligence on such products, including identifying risks and mitigants in all applicable geographies.
• Stay abreast of new laws and regulations through continuous legal education, attending professional conferences and participating in professional associations.
• Provide updates to Group senior business persons on new legislation and regulatory developments that may impact the Group and advise on compliance.
• Work closely with other members of the legal function, develop positive professional relationships, share legal knowledge and best practices, and provide formal/informal training sessions at the direction of the Group General Counsel and Head of Legal Global Corporate Finance & Islamic Banking.
• Liaise with concerned external authorities such as courts and law firms to ensure effective resolution of all legal matters affecting the Group.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and provide input on learning and development initiatives, including training content.
• Ensure all MIS and reports related to own area are prepared accurately and timely in accordance with Group requirements, policies, and standards.
• Define goals and KPIs for own reports and ensure effective implementation of the FAB performance management process.
• Develop talent within the team by providing guidance and coaching.
• Structure, draft, review and negotiate transaction documentation for bilateral and syndicated Sharia compliant financing transactions across project finance, structured and leveraged acquisition finance, fund finance, real estate finance and asset finance, and credit restructuring and other complex lending arrangements.
• Structure, draft, review and negotiate Islamic treasury and global markets products, including IIFM, ISDA, TMAs, collateralised Murabaha agreements, Islamic Repos, interbank deposit agreements, Murabaha and Wakala, and debt capital markets products such as Sukuk.
• Draft, review, negotiate Sharia compliant consumer banking and trade/business banking related documents, e.g., accounts, credit cards, personal finance, car finance, mortgage finance, small business loans.
• Draft, review, negotiate Sharia compliant global private banking related documents, Sharia compliant Lombard facilities and investment services related documents, etc.
• Draft, review, negotiate Sharia compliant bilateral facilities on standard form documentation and terms, conditions.
• Assist the business with review of existing standard form documentation, developing and rolling out new Sharia compliant products within GM corporate and trade banking, consumer and private banking products and services.
• Make recommendations for improvements to policies and processes and streamlining to improve efficiency and turnaround time.

• Minimum qualification:
  
  Bachelor's degree in Law;
  Master's degree in Law preferred;
  English Law qualification.
• Minimum experience:
  
  8 PQE with experience in a reputed bank or law firm, with at least 3 years in a similar role.
• Relevant experience in conventional transactional finance, including LMA, APLMA, syndicated loans, project finance, leveraged acquisition finance, real estate finance, and asset finance transactions; experience on agency requirements in loan documentation, debt restructurings and other complex lending agreements is a strong advantage.