Legal Counsel, Distressed Assets Legal

As Legal Counsel, Distressed Assets India, the job holder is responsible for supporting and developing the identification, management and mitigation of legal risk associated with stressed situations across in India. This includes the provision of legal expertise that is holistic, proactive, timely and commercial to support (i) stressed accounts from Early Alert to exit across geographies and products and segments (excluding retail) (ii) Principal Finance; and (iii) other teams across the Bank requiring specialist Restructuring and Insolvency (R&I) input for eg Treasury and SC Ventures.

Strategy

• Support the development of the vision, strategy, direction and leadership of the Distressed Assets Legal team as directed by Head, Legal, Distressed Assets.
• Position as a trusted and “go to” adviser and as a senior point of contact for distressed assets-related advice and expertise within India
• Work closely with country and regional Legal teams to ensure appropriate collaboration on distressed assets matters.
• Ensure and improve the technical quality and effectiveness of legal support in the management of distressed assets and to the relationship team, Stressed Asset Group/Stressed Asset Risk function, at a country and, as directed, regional level.
• Support and advise the Stressed Asset Group/Stressed Asset Risk function and deal team in country on recovery strategies and restructuring proposals from early alert (EA) to exit, from a legal perspective including effective cost benefit analysis of legal options.
• Advise and develop legal support for distressed asset disposals and other portfolio initiatives including product and cross border advice as required.
• Advise on specific accounts where requested by Regional/Country Head, Stressed Asset Group/Stressed Asset Risk.
• Provide legal support in country for restructuring and collaborate and co-ordinate with country and regional legal teams in ensuring the optimal use of legal’s internal and external resources and the appropriate targeted legal coverage model.
• Manage external counsel relationships from an SCB and restructuring perspective, including ensuring effective scoping and efficient engagement of external counsel whilst working to deliver potential outsourcing options. Where possible seek input from Head of Legal, India

Business

• Leverage the bank’s expertise and resources, to support and advise on distressed assets.
• Work in collaboration with the Disputes Resolution, product, regional and country legal teams to support optimal recovery outcomes.
• Where appropriate, engage in discussion, challenge and approve restructuring proposals to ensure all legal requirements are met.
• Partner with stakeholders to drive the legal agenda within the Stressed Asset Group/Stressed Asset Risk function giving focus to legal policy and the Operational Risk Framework.

Processes

• Manage external counsel appointments in collaboration with country legal teams, ensure clearly defined and appropriate scopes of work, oversee the quality of work and manage external legal costs.
• Continually improve internal processes to ensure smooth, cost effective delivery in the provision of legal advice.
• Provide support to the internal process and governance structures for the management of distressed assets in order to identify appropriate juncture and effectiveness of effective legal advice in determination of optimal strategy.

People and Talent

• Engage relevant stakeholders (e.g. Regional/Country Head, SAG) to obtain regular feedback on the Distressed Assets Legal team’s performance.
• Collaborate and engage with legal colleagues to leverage optimal support for restructuring and work out of distressed assets.

Risk Management / Governance

• Assist Head, Legal, Distressed Assets and General Counsel, ASA with reporting to key risk control committees and management groups on relevant legal risks and issues, including through the drafting of relevant reports on assigned matters.
• Apply the Risk Management Framework and tools to identify, own, monitor, manage, resolve, mitigate and escalate all material risks which affect the Distressed Assets Legal team.
• Follow the Group Management Responsibility policy to ensure effective risk management and the implementation of proper controls across the Distressed Assets Legal team.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant risk management policies.
• Apply a broad knowledge of risks to manage risk appetite in line with the Bank’s risk appetite.
• Assume responsibility for delivering effective governance of the Distressed Assets Legal team.
• Proactively participate in regular Legal team meetings.

Other Responsibilities
Embed ‘Here for Good’ and Group’s brand and values.

Key Requirements for the role:

• Qualified to practice as a solicitor in India.
• Experience of insolvency law and enforcement proceedings.
• Relevant experience of restructuring situations.
• Knowledge of CCIB Client Coverage, Transaction Banking and Financial Markets products.
• Strong analytical skills, detail-focused.
• Problem solving skills with ability to influence across all levels of business.
• Ability to independently drive initiatives with minimum hands-on supervision.

• Legal Function
• Legislative Analysis
• Business Acumen
• Commercial Law
• Products and Processes
• Regulatory and Risk Frameworks

• Qualified to practice in India.
• 2+ years of experience in banking and finance legal practice.
• Languages: English and/or local language skills as relevant to country requirements

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.