Counsel - Regulatory

Building the Future of Open Finance

Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, Ninja Trader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.

Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for both individual investors and institutional clients.

Join our Regulatory Legal team, the group responsible for maintaining and growing Kraken's product offerings across the EU and UK and for advising the business on its day-to-day regulatory obligations. We're a tight, experienced group of lawyers from a diverse range of tradfi, fintech, and crypto backgrounds who move fast, stay curious, and take pride in the commercial accountability of our advice – partnering directly with Compliance, Product, and senior leadership to keep our licensed entities running smoothly and our regulators well served.

You will operate as a practical legal generalist with focus on:

• Product advice covering Payward's growing offerings in the UK (Krak card, payments and staking, among other things)

• Cryptoasset Regime Compliance (under the UK Cryptoasset Regime) — advising on regulatory obligations for CASPs including supporting on the steady flow of regulatory queries, notifications and supervisory correspondence that keeps our licensed entities compliant and our regulatory relationships strong; and

• Payments & e-money compliance — advising on regulatory obligations affecting our e-money and payment accounts and supporting related work streams as they arise

We're looking for a hands-on lawyer with strong regulatory fluency and a track record of independently owning BAU regulatory relationships (ideally honed in the regulated financial sector).

This is a fully remote role for a qualified lawyer in the UK

• Provide legal support on cryptoasset, e-money and payment services regulatory requirements, including advising on account-access obligations and related operational compliance questions
• Support the team's active licensing applications and other in-flight UK licensing or registration work streams, including compiling application materials and coordinating with outside counsel
• Provide regulatory support on corporate transactions and structural changes affecting UK entities (e.g., change-of-control notifications, corporate client migrations)
• Support the day-to-day relationship with regulators for our licensed entities
• Translate complex regulatory frameworks (e.g., the UK Cryptoasset Regime, FCA rulebooks, AML/CTF, operational resilience requirements (e.g., the FCA/PRA regime), outsourcing requirements, and e-money and payment services regulation) into pragmatic, actionable guidance for the business
• Foster a culture of clarity, favouring plain-English communication, measurable risk tradeoffs, and decision-ready recommendations

• Qualified lawyer (Solicitor/Barrister of England & Wales, or equivalent)
• 6+ years' post-qualification experience (PQE) in financial services regulatory law gained at a regulated financial services institution (e.g., a bank, payment institution, broker-dealer, exchange, or crypto services provider) or in a law firm/private practice supporting such clients, with demonstrated ability to independently own BAU regulatory work streams
• Direct experience supporting regulator engagement with the FCA (or equivalent regulator), including notifications, information requests, and supervisory correspondence
• Substantiv…