Legal Counsel

Legal Counsel | London

Monex specialises in FX risk management and international payments, helping corporate and institutional clients design tailored FX solutions to navigate currency volatility with confidence. Our team of FX specialists implement well-considered currency strategies, offering dedicated support to help clients manage their payment needs – whether for goods, services, or direct investments.

In 2023, Monex facilitated $309 billion in FX turnover, managed $10.7 billion in assets, and processed 8.5 million transactions. With offices across North America (Canada, the US, and Mexico), Asia (Singapore), and Europe (the UK, Spain, and the Netherlands), we serve over 66,000 clients worldwide.

By combining global reach with deep local market expertise, Monex enhances businesses with a suite of financial solutions and FX market analysis to help optimise efficiency, mitigate currency risk, and protect margins in an increasingly complex financial landscape.  Our corporate client experience is further enhanced by our dedicated sector expertise across a range of industries.

Department Overview

The Monex Global Legal Team is responsible for ensuring that:

• each Monex Group Company that it advises complies with its legal obligations and has appropriate documentation in place;
• legal risk within the business is appropriately tracked and mitigated;
• litigation is appropriately managed when it arises in the best interests of the Monex Group, liaising with external local counsel where required; and
• the executive team and relevant directors are advised in a manner consistent with business goals, good governance and regulatory requirements.

The London Legal Team is responsible for advising MEL, MEM and MonFX in relation to Commercial Matters (as defined below), and for advising all Monex Group Companies including MIM, MTS, MEL, MEM, MonFX, MCI, MUSA, MEM S.V., MESL and any other branch offices or future subsidiaries as required, in relation to Corporate Matters (as defined below) in collaboration with other legal teams in other jurisdictions and external counsel when required.

Commercial Matters: Includes any legal work supporting the delivery of Monex’s services to external clients, including assisting and advising on: (i) commercial transactional documentation including but not limited to, ISDAs, CSAs, terms and conditions, margin facility agreements, derivatives documentation, payments documentation, NDAs and introducer agreements; (ii) default scenarios, disputes and related litigation; (iv) regulatory issues and horizon scanning; (vii) general research and training for internal stakeholders; (viii) legal project management including managing matters outsourced to external counsel/consultants; and (ix) new Monex products, including via the Monex Pay platform, digital adoption and technology enhancements.

Corporate Matters: Includes any legal work relating to Monex’s internal and intragroup issues, or any service provision received by Monex including assisting and advising on: (i) group re-organisations, new company incorporations or establishment of business in new jurisdictions, corporate entity management, sales and purchases and related financing arrangements, office lease arrangements, internal and external audit support, (ii) BAU board meetings, internal committees, internal signing authorities and corporate filing and administrative requirements, (iii) data protection and IP matters including cease and desists, (iv) third party supplier contracts, (v) general research and training to internal stakeholders; (viii) legal project management including managing matters outsourced to external counsel/consultants; (ix) complex HR matters including consultancy arrangements or disputes; and (x) intragroup service provision and data sharing arrangements.

Job Overview

The Legal Counsel role provides in-house legal support across both Corporate and Commercial Matters for MEL, MEM, MonFX, MTS and other Monex Group Companies, as required. Responsibilities include corporate governance, corporate transactional support, internal advisory work, and commercial transactional support.

The Legal Counsel will work closely with the Head of Legal, senior management, Finance, HR, Compliance, Sales, Credit Risk, and Treasury teams, as well as external counsel, to deliver strategic initiatives and day-to-day legal services.

Key activities include contract negotiation and creating templates and in house standards, drafting policies, providing internal training on legal matters, legal research, preparing advice notes to support Monex’s operational and strategic goals and supporting with projects to drive efficiencies within the legal function and streamline support to the Monex Group as required.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

Commercial Matters

• Negotiating a range of commercial, sales and trading related documentation to deliver the best outcomes for Monex and protect the business from legal risk.
• Drafting, negotiating and reviewing terms and conditions in respect of FX transactions, payment services and introducer agreements.
• Drafting, negotiating and reviewing contracts within the standard ISDA suite of documentation for a variety of entity types, including institutional/ agency/ umbrella structures and related documentation, and credit support documents, with client counterparties and liquidity providers.
• Drafting, negotiating and reviewing bespoke margin agreements.
• Drafting parental guarantees and ensuring appropriate internal corporate approvals when providing these.
• Drafting and negotiating general commercial contracts, amendment agreements, novation agreements and introducer agreements.
• Facilitating efficient and business focused solutions for the business when faced with commercial problems and assisting with providing a superior client experience, within the permissible legal framework.

Corporate Matters

• Managing corporate reorganisations, corporate filings, appointment and resignation of directors and updating the group structure chart.
• Assisting the Head of Legal in liaising with relevant regulatory bodies including the FCA and the ICO, as required.
• Managing KYC requirements with our liquidity providers and where we are subject to supplier due diligence.
• Attending board meetings and providing detailed minutes and actions alongside the Company Secretary.
• Leading on special projects that require legal input including across property and real estate matters, IT and infrastructure changes and new digital product development.
• Assisting on data protection, information security and privacy related matters;
• Assisting on IP and trademark matters.

General Matters

• Creating templates, workflows and standard documentation to drive efficiencies and reduce internal resource spend on repetitive tasks.
• Contribute to legal operational projects and supporting the Head of Legal in mentoring and training more junior members of the legal team.
• Identifying areas of legal risk or regulatory requirements and using technical skills to resolve them.
• Drafting legal notices and letters for ad hoc matters including terminations.
• Drafting and reviewing confidentiality agreements for various Monex entities.
• Collating signatures and arranging for execution of documents within the authorised signatory framework.
• Assisting in the creation of know-how, drafting guidance and playbooks on specialist legal subject matters and training new and existing colleagues on specialist subject areas.
• Liaising with law firms, external suppliers and the Finance team to manage payment of legal invoices.
• Assisting the Head of Legal with day-to-day tasks, including requests for advice received from various internal stakeholders as required.
• Assisting with the provision of legal advice by undertaking legal research;
• Maintaining document archives and electronic records.
• Other related tasks and matters, including administrative where required.

Business Knowledge / Technical Skills:

Required

• Qualified solicitor in England & Wales with training completed at a reputable private practice law firm or in-house program.
• 1-3 years post qualification experience.
• Proven record of accomplishment of operating within a commercial environment which is subject to regulatory oversight.
• Working knowledge of corporate and company law, with experience of company secretarial responsibilities including minute taking and preparing board packs.
• Sound legal drafting skills across commercial contracts including Saas, outsourcing agreements, supplier contracts and consultancy arrangements.
• Experience of working on a cross jurisdictional basis with and for international clients.

Desirable

• Thorough knowledge of relevant laws and regulations and horizon scanning for impending legislation and/or regulations including MiFID, EMIR, FSMA, GDPR, MAR, AML Regulations and the Companies Acts.
• Strong, previous experience of working within an in-house legal function of an investment and/or a financial services firm and within a regulated environment.
• Experience of negotiating industry standard trading agreements and ancillary agreements, especially the ISDA Master Agreement and related agreements, including collateral agreements, across a variety of counterparty types, including funds and corporates, incorporated in a variety of jurisdictions gained either at a law firm, investment bank or financial services provider.
• Spanish speaker

Systems / Knowledge Skills:

• MS Office; Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint;
• Legal library databases – LexisNexis, Practical Law Company, Lexology Pro.