FCL Director EMEA

Barclays have an excellent opportunity for a Financial Crime Legal Director - EMEA to join our Financial Crime Legal Team. This is a permanent role based in London.

FCL is a global team providing strategic, commercially focused legal advice on complex financial crime issues - including anti‑money laundering (AML), counter‑terrorist financing (CTF), sanctions, and anti‑bribery & corruption (ABC) - to all businesses and key functions across the Group. We are not business‑aligned: we provide a Group‑wide service spanning Retail Banking, Cards & Payments, Business Banking, Corporate Banking, Investment Banking, and Private Bank & Wealth Management.

Our subject‑matter experts:

• Advise on transactions, products and new business initiatives with financial‑crime touchpoints.
• Lead on complex AML/CTF, sanctions and ABC advisory work.
• Shape internal policy positions and contribute to external policy engagement.
• Support with engagement with government, regulators and law‑enforcement on priority financial crime issues.

• Act as the senior regional legal lead for AML/CTF across the UK, Middle East, and Africa regions delivering authoritative, independent advice on high‑profile, complex matters with minimal supervision.
• Be a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, exercising sound legal judgement and professional independence in a fast‑paced environment.
• To provide strategic leadership on legal issues relating to AML/CTF, working with other functions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of AML/CTF risk management within the region and across the Bank.
• Drive our global remit, locally coordinating cross‑border legal advice and ensuring consistent standards across jurisdictions.
• Strengthen the region’s financial‑crime risk management by partnering with Legal, Financial Crime Compliance (FCC), Audit and the Business, providing effective oversight and credible challenge.
• Proactively seek to identify unmanaged risk and emerging trends in financial crime, (including forthcoming laws, rules, and regulations) and help deliver legal advice on procedures and controls of to anticipate those trends and deliver sustainable value within the region and to the Bank globally.
• Provide a supporting role to LI&E, the Bank’s FIU and FCC as necessary, on investigations and potential enforcement actions, specifically providing SME input including on remediation considerations.

• Serve as primary senior legal contact for AML/CTF in the region; lead complex, time‑sensitive matters with material legal, regulatory and reputational impact. Sanctions expertise is beneficial, but any successful candidate will be expected to develop working knowledge of financial sanctions.
• Provide cross‑border legal advice coordinating with in‑country and product counsel to ensure consistent positions and robust execution.
• Translate complex legal requirements into clear, practical advice and options that balance risk, regulation and commerciality.

• Exercise independent judgement when advising senior management; escalate promptly where risk tolerance, regulatory expectations or policy are at issue.
• Provide credible challenge to business proposals and control decisions; record and communicate legal risk positions effectively.

• Represent FCL at regional governance fora (e.g., Transaction Review Committees), ensuring financial‑crime risks are appropriately assessed and mitigated.
• Contribute to the design and enhancement of financial‑crime legal risk frameworks, policies and standards, support periodic effectiveness reviews.
• Produce high‑quality management information (MI) and reporting on themes, trends and emerging risks for regional ExCo and Group stakeholders.

• Support engagement with regulators, government and law‑enforcement on AML/CTF matters; prepare responses to supervisory queries and participate in thematic reviews.
• Support industry engagement and thought leadership, input to consultations and external policy initiatives where appropriate.