Lead Counsel - Wealth Capital Markets Product - Vice President

Overview

Discover your future king at Citi is far more than just a job. A career with us means joining a team of more than 230,000 dedicated people from around the globe. At Citi, you'll have the opportunity to grow your career, give back to your community and make a real impact.

Job Overview and Team/Role Overview:
Working as part of the Wealth Legal department, this role will be a core member of the global Capital Markets Legal team, focusing on the UK, Europe and Middle East business. The role involves advising on regulatory implementation, transactional Capital Markets work and Capital Markets business projects and initiatives. This role is based in Belfast and sits within the Wealth Capital Markets Legal team, which covers a wide range of products and their regulation, including primary/secondary market equity/fixed income trading, multi-asset OTC derivatives, structured products, and exchange-traded derivatives.

The role requires a pragmatic, proactive lawyer with a grounding in UK/EEA financial services/private bank/wealth management regulation and an awareness of the laws for the geographies we operate in. The candidate should exercise sound legal judgement to develop proactive, risk-appropriate, and commercially practical business-oriented solutions. Timely and clear responses are critical as this role supports trading desks and front office personnel.

Summary:

The successful candidate will be familiar with UK/EEA financial services/private bank/wealth management regulation and legal principles, with awareness of Capital Markets products (particularly securities, including structured products). The role offers opportunities to learn about new products and regulations and to develop technical knowledge of investment products sold to retail and professional clients.

The role provides key legal support and execution on Capital Markets matters, participating in client trading activities and business projects/initiatives. Responsibilities include interpreting relevant laws, drafting documentation, and advising on legal matters impacting the Capital Markets business. Focus areas include primary/secondary market securities, structured products/derivative securities, and more complex security trading (e.g., strategic equity solutions). There may be opportunities to cover the wider Capital Markets business and other Wealth initiatives.

Familiarity with Digital Asset/Tokenised/Crypto products and related market initiatives is advantageous.

A successful candidate will:

• Provide real-time legal support in Capital Markets (securities, including derivative securities/structured products) to front office and Control partners; maintain daily contact with Sales and Trading personnel and provide timely, pragmatic legal advice.
• Negotiate and review trading and offering documentation (Broker Agreements, Distribution Agreements, Termsheets); draft bespoke side letters and transaction-specific documents as needed.
• Review and draft product terms, offering documentation and disclosures. Stay up to date with regulatory developments (e.g., MiFID II, MAR, CSDR, PRIIPs, RIS, Consumer Duty) and implement changes as part of regulatory initiatives.
• Assist the business in negotiations and dialogue with investment bank issuers/underwriters.
• Advise on cross-border marketing, sales and distribution requirements affecting Capital Markets products.
• Work with stakeholders to develop policies, procedures and controls related to the product area.
• Collaborate across internal lines of business and control/support functions to achieve coordinated outcomes; coordinate with the Legal team regionally and globally.
• Prioritise workload and manage transactions/initiatives with proactive engagement and risk assessment; escalate novel situations with first-cut solutions and risks.
• Maintain momentum across parallel matters and meet tight deadlines.
• Assist in evaluating Wealth Capital Markets proposals by applying knowledge and risk appetite against standards and regulatory guidelines; escalate as appropriate.
• Determine when external legal support is required and manage external counsel (delivery timeframe and cost).