Blackrock Global Markets EMEA Coverage Lawyer

About this role

BlackRock is seeking a lawyer in London to be part of the in-house team providing legal coverage to BlackRock Global Markets (BGM). Legal coverage of BGM involves analysing and responding to the issues and questions that arise from the trading and market facing activity of BlackRock funds and clients. The global team covers, among other things, equity and fixed income cash trading, OTC derivatives (cleared and uncleared), exchange traded derivatives, prime brokerage, repos, securities lending, clearing, structured notes, foreign exchange and digital/crypto assets.

We are seeking a lawyer with relevant experience to assist with regulatory advocacy and implementation related to the coverage of these various asset classes. The candidate should have a good grasp of the regulations that apply to the instruments covered, including (for example) EMIR, MiFID II (including Trading Venue Perimeter), SFTR, CSDR and emerging regulations in the digital asset space (including MiCA, DLT pilot and tokenisation), and should be able to review, analyse and apply such regulations to covered activity. We are seeking a lawyer who combines rigorous analytical skill with commercial pragmatism and is able to work effectively within a team environment, but also be self-directed and able to work autonomously with minimal oversight on a day-to-day basis. Knowledge of UCITS and AIFMD would also be helpful. In addition to working closely with the BGM legal team in London, New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong, the lawyer will work closely with the wider legal and compliance team.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Analysing and summarising trading related regulations and performing cross border applicability analysis;
• Advising the regulatory solutions group, investment teams and traders in connection with the implementation of trading related regulations and their impact on BlackRock's trading and market facing activity;
• Working with internal stakeholders such as the public policy group and the trading market structure team on market consultations/regulatory advocacy initiatives as well as representing BlackRock on trade association and other external regulatory focussed working groups;
• Special projects as required.

Skills/Requirements:

• Solicitor/lawyer qualified in England and Wales;
• 2 - 6 years of post-qualification experience as a lawyer with a law firm or in-house at a financial services company;
• Ability to analyse and apply trading related rules and regulations across dealers and funds in multiple jurisdictions;
• Strong understanding of current regulatory framework affecting trading and investments;
• Ideally, experience with industry standard trading agreements and related documentation such as the ISDA (including related collateral documentation) and ISDA product definitions, GMRA, GMSLA and documentation of clearing arrangements;
• Ability to clarify tasks and requirements and excellent organisational, negotiating and inter-personal skills;
• Solutions oriented, strategic thinker, ability to understand the business needs and partner with the business and control functions;
• Commercial outlook, motivated, personable and with attention to detail;
• Ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organisation in verbal and written form;
• Take ownership of problems/requirements and ensure they are resolved to meet objectives without taking shortcuts that could compromise quality.