Legal & Compliance Manager

Legal & Compliance Manager

About Our Client

Job Purpose

Legal Advisory & Transactional

• Provide day-to-day legal counsel to the business on a broad range of matters including exchange rules, clearing house rulebooks, member agreements, and participant documentation.
• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial contracts including technology agreements, vendor and supplier contracts, partnership arrangements, and institutional client agreements.
• Advise on corporate governance matters for the ADGM entity, including board resolutions, constitutional documents, and regulatory authorisation conditions.
• Support the structuring and legal review of new products, including physically delivered derivatives, tokenised collateral arrangements, and real-world asset integration.
• Manage relationships with external legal counsel across ADGM, the UK, and other relevant jurisdictions, coordinating multi-jurisdictional advice efficiently and cost-effectively.
• Provide legal input on data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity obligations under applicable ADGM law and relevant international frameworks.
• Advise on and manage any disputes, claims, or regulatory investigations that may arise, engaging external counsel where required.
• Monitor legal and regulatory developments in ADGM and the broader GCC, ensuring the business is aware of and prepared for legislative change.

Regulatory Compliance & Fsra Engagement

• Act as the primary regulatory point of contact with the FSRA, managing ongoing obligations under the RIE and RCH authorisations.
• Monitor all regulatory requirements applicable to the exchange and clearing house and ensure full, timely compliance.
• Lead regulatory horizon scanning across digital assets in ADGM, the broader GCC, and internationally, and translate this into actionable business guidance.
• Maintain and develop regulatory reporting frameworks, including incident reporting, breach management, and periodic submissions to the FSRA.
• Prepare for and manage regulatory examinations, inspections, and enquiries.

Compliance Framework Development

• Design, build, and embed compliance policies, procedures, and controls appropriate for a 24/7 centrally cleared digital asset derivatives venue.
• Develop and maintain AML/CFT frameworks, including transaction monitoring, suspicious activity reporting, and KYC/KYB standards.
• Establish and operationalise a market abuse surveillance framework suited to both crypto-native and institutional participants.
• Define and maintain conduct and conflicts of interest policies across trading, clearing, and settlement functions.
• Implement and periodically review a risk-based compliance monitoring programme.

Institutional Client & Product Support

• Support the onboarding of institutional clients from a legal and compliance perspective, including member admission, participant agreements, and counterparty due diligence.
• Advise product and business teams on the legal and regulatory perimeter as the product suite evolves — including cash-settled and physically delivered derivatives, tokenised collateral, and real-world asset integration.
• Provide legal and compliance input to new product approval processes, rulemaking, and product documentation.
• Work closely with the Global Head of Compliance to ensure ADGM legal and compliance activity is integrated with group-level frameworks operating across the UK and other jurisdictions.

Commercial & Strategic Partnership

• Operate as a genuine commercial partner to the business — helping the organisation move forward confidently within legal and regulatory frameworks, not acting as an obstacle to progress.
• Engage at senior level with institutional partners, counterparties, and external legal and advisory firms.
• Provide training and guidance to staff on legal obligations, compliance requirements, regulatory developments, and conduct standards.
• Contribute to the firm’s culture of integrity, helping to establish the legal and compliance function as a trusted internal resource.

Legal & Technical Skills

• Qualified lawyer (common law or civil law background considered) with post-qualification experience in financial services, capital markets, fintech, or a related field. Dual qualification or experience spanning both legal practice and compliance is strongly preferred.
• Ability to draft and negotiate complex commercial contracts, rulebooks, and institutional agreements to a high standard, independently and without heavy reliance on external counsel for routine matters.
• Deep, working knowledge of regulatory compliance within regulated financial market infrastructure — exchanges, CCPs, clearing houses, or MTFs.
• Substantive expertise in digital asset and crypto markets — genuine operational understanding of the legal and regulatory landscape, not superficial familiarity.
• Solid understanding of how traditional financial institutions operate, including banking legal frameworks, capital markets documentation, and clearing and settlement mechanics.
• Strong grasp of AML/CFT frameworks, sanctions screening, and financial crime risk management in both traditional and crypto contexts.
• Ability to interpret and apply primary legislation, regulatory rules, and guidance, including navigating grey areas and emerging regulatory positions.
• Familiarity with market abuse, surveillance, trade reporting obligations, and data protection law as it applies to financial services.

Essential

• 10–15 years of combined legal and/or compliance experience, with a career that spans regulated financial institutions (banks, exchanges, clearing houses, or equivalent) and digital assets / crypto markets.
• Qualified lawyer with meaningful post-qualification experience in financial services; or a senior compliance professional with significant in-house legal exposure and a track record of managing legal affairs directly.
• Demonstrated ability to draft, review, and negotiate commercial and institutional agreements to a high standard.
• Proven track record of operating within or alongside a regulated financial market infrastructure provider, with direct regulatory engagement experience.
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement compliance frameworks, policies, and monitoring programmes in a build or scaling environment.
• Hands-on experience with AML/CFT programme management, including policy ownership, training, and suspicious activity management.
• Experience working across multiple jurisdictions or within a cross-border organisational structure.

Preferred

• Prior experience working within, or in close engagement with, the ADGM or FSRA regulatory framework. Broader GCC legal and regulatory experience is welcomed.
• Experience at a central counterparty clearing house (CCP), exchange, or multilateral trading facility (MTF).
• Understanding of derivatives markets, including cleared and OTC derivatives, margin, collateral management, and associated legal documentation (e.g., ISDA, exchange rulebooks).
• Familiarity with tokenised real-world assets, their legal characterisation, and regulatory treatment.