Legal Counsel

CMC Markets is seeking an experienced, commercially minded and versatile Legal Counsel to join its EMEA Legal team in London.

The successful candidate will provide high-quality legal advice and support across CMC Markets' financial markets activities, with a particular focus on OTC derivatives, securities financing, trading arrangements, and related financial services documentation.

The role requires a lawyer with strong technical expertise in financial markets law and practice, excellent drafting skills and the ability to provide pragmatic, commercially focused advice in a fast-paced, regulated financial services environment.

The successful candidate will be comfortable acting independently as a subject-matter expert while also contributing to a collaborative legal team. The role offers exposure to a broad range of legal and commercial matters, including new products, evolving market structures and digital assets.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Markets and Transactional Support

- Provide legal advice and support in relation to CMC Markets' trading, brokerage and other financial markets business lines; particularly, prime brokerage, OTC derivatives, securities, and securities financing transactions.

- Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of financial markets agreements, including ISDA Master Agreements, Credit Support Annexes, Global Master Securities Lending Agreements (GMSLAs), give-up agreements, and related documentation.

- Advise on trading, clearing, collateral, custody, settlement and other post-trade arrangements.

- Support the negotiation of prime brokerage, execution, clearing, custody and other financial intermediary agreements.

- Advise on legal and commercial risks arising from financial markets transactions, trading structures and counterparty relationships.

- Work closely with Trading, Risk, Treasury, Operations, Compliance and other business functions to support commercial objectives.

General Legal Advisory

- Provide clear, practical and commercially focused legal advice to business stakeholders and senior management.

- Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial and financial services contracts.

- Support the development and implementation of new products, services and business initiatives.

- Advise on legal and contractual matters arising from regulatory developments and changes in market practice.

- Identify, assess and help manage legal risks, balancing legal requirements with commercial considerations.

- Contribute to legal projects and provide support across other areas of law as business priorities require.

- Manage external legal advisers where appropriate.

Teamwork and Stakeholder Management

- Act as a trusted legal adviser and subject-matter expert within the business.

- Develop strong working relationships with colleagues across different business functions and jurisdictions.

- Communicate complex legal issues clearly and concisely to both legal and non-legal stakeholders.

- Work collaboratively with other members of the Legal team, sharing expertise and supporting collective objectives.

- Manage competing demands, prioritise effectively and deliver high-quality work within business deadlines.

Qualifications and Experience

Essential Requirements

- A law degree or equivalent education and relevant professional experience.

- Professional qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales, or an equivalent qualification in another common law jurisdiction.

- At least six years of relevant legal experience, preferably gained at a leading law firm, a financial institution, or a well-regarded in-house legal department.

- Strong working knowledge of the legal and contractual frameworks governing OTC derivatives, securities transactions, and related market-facing and post-trade activities.

- Practical experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating ISDA and GMSLA documentation, with a sound understanding of the underlying transactions and market practices.

- Excellent legal drafting skills, including the ability to produce clear, precise and commercially appropriate contractual documentation.

- Strong analytical skills and the ability to identify and assess complex legal and commercial risks.

- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical legal matters to non-specialist audiences.

- Excellent organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously and meet demanding deadlines.

- Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgement and take ownership of legal matters.

- A flexible and adaptable approach, with a willingness to work outside areas of core expertise and support different legal disciplines as business requirements evolve.

- A collaborative approach and the ability to contribute effectively as part of a wider legal and business team.

Desirable Experience

- Experience advising on prime brokerage arrangements, including execution, clearing, custody, margin and collateral arrangements.

- Experience working within an investment bank, brokerage, trading firm or other regulated financial services business.

- Knowledge of digital assets, including cryptoassets, tokenised securities, digital asset custody, trading and related regulatory frameworks.

- Familiarity with UK and EU financial services regulation, particularly as it applies to investment firms, derivatives and securities markets.

- Experience supporting cross-border financial services activities and working with international counterparties.