BNP Paribas is the European Union’s leading bank and a key player in international banking. We operate in 65 countries and employ 190,000 people, including nearly 145,000 in Europe. Our Group holds key positions in its three main fields of activity: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services; Investment & Protection Services; and Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB) for corporate and institutional clients.

BNP Paribas’ CIB UK Legal department is a dynamic and integral part of the bank's activities, providing expert legal advice and support across a wide range of activities. Our teams work closely with the business on transactional, advisory and governance matters and on disputes. It is led by dedicated professionals who ensure that the bank's interests are protected while adhering to the highest legal, regulatory and ethical standards. The department is involved in various initiatives, including work experience programs, diversity and inclusion efforts, and legal technology advancements, reflecting its commitment to excellence, innovation and efficiency in the legal field.

Company purpose:

Our company purpose is to contribute to a responsible and sustainable economy by financing and advising clients according to the highest ethical standards.

Our employer promise is built around three pillars:

• Being a great place to work

• Committed to sustainability and having a positive impact

• Being dedicated to the development of our people

Business area

The Legal Department supports the securities services activities of BNP Paribas S.A,. This business division provides specialist securities services and investment operations support to a wide range of issuers, financial intermediaries and institutional investors (“Securities Services”) whether in custody with a third party custodian or in custody with BNP Paribas, ranging from financing solutions to a range of funds investing into funds of funds, cash management and liquidity solutions, as well as agency lending, principal custodial lending, fail coverage and FX solutions such as auto FX, FX on demand and passive currency overlay. 

The range of services also include various collateral management solutions, including third party collateral management for variation margin and for segregated initial margin, as well as collateral calculation services and collateral management and valuation services for clients entering into OTC, cleared derivatives, securities lending and repo transactions with their counterparties. 

Job Purpose

Paralegal or solicitor (working as part of a team) supporting the Securities Services Market & Financing Services (“MFS”) business line of BNP Paribas. 

Key Responsibilities of the role:

• Providing legal support in respect of critical business initiatives and management of legal risks within the business.
• Negotiating, drafting and reviewing contracts within the securities services’ business including (but not limited to):
  • Amendments to Securities Lending Authority Agreements for Agency Lending;
  • FX Calculation and Execution Agreement for passive currency overlay, and amendments, restatements or novations, FX trading agreements relating to different asset managers and fund types across various jurisdictions;
  • Support to Securities Services-specific financing activity: negotiation of amendment agreements and extensions to existing Facility Agreements, replication and finalisation of draft financing documentation. Preparation of execution copies/collation of executed documents, providing general support with the execution process, including tracking of signatures to the executed documents and the status of conditions precedent to be received as part of the execution process. Issuing of post execution notices, tracking signatures and acknowledgements of such notices. 
  • Advising other Securities Services colleagues (legal, business, operations and functions) across all locations including advising how the provision of the MFS services impact Securities Services as custodian, depositary, fund administrator from a legal perspective as well advising on potential operational and regulatory issues.  
  • Drafting and negotiation of agency and principal lending GMSLAs (including pledge), Account Control Agreements and accompanying security agreements for pledged collateral, GMRAs and SFTR Reporting Services Agreements. 
  • Adhering to bank policies and obtaining relevant Credit, Risk and Collateral teams’ approvals where there are deviations from the standard bank’s position in negotiations; 
  • Keeping clients, Business and Client On Boarding teams updated and managing their expectations;
  • Carrying out capacity checks, review and analysis of legal netting and collateral opinions, drafting of bespoke language, liaising with external counsel to obtain updated opinions, present findings at the Netting and Collateral Committee for approval; 
  • Updating and assisting in the instruction drafting for obtaining legal opinions and advising with regards to event of default procedures, mini close outs, netting issues, regulatory specific issues, insolvency issues and security requirements (including selecting and co-ordinating external legal counsel where relevant);
  • Updating internal systems;
  • Creating standard precedents and updating existing precedents;
  • Creating check-lists related to various standard agreements to facilitate the issuing of agreements;
  • Providing legal training to other lawyers and non-lawyers.

Key Responsibilities

Key internal stakeholders:    

• Business (Market & Financing Services)
• Product
• Credit/Risk IM
• Colleagues from other Legal departments

Key external key stakeholders:

• Clients and counterparties. 

Requirements

• Experience in the securities services area (or other financial services) area including experience in some or all of the following areas:
  • custody and clearing
  • securities lending and repos (especially agency securities lending authorities)
  • derivatives (vanilla)
  • general commercial contracts
• Experience in drafting, reviewing and negotiation of legal agreements 
• Experience of working with international colleagues (legal and business) in the coordination of international deals
• Experience of the product development process (i.e. identifying and quantifying legal risk and suggesting risk mitigants/solutions) and commercial transactions (understanding business needs and ability to “balance” business need and legal risk through creative legal thinking and drafting!)
• Advising as regards taking security over cash and securities
• Experience of creating new precedents and amending existing precedents for developing product offerings
• A pro-active individual who enjoys working within the framework of a supportive team but able to work autonomously - able to prioritise and work to deadlines within a demanding, busy environment
• Awareness and understanding (or willingness and enthusiasm to build knowledge) of regulatory landscape, such as EMIR, CRR, BRRD, IBORs and SFTR. 
• Awareness and understanding of credit and tax aspects of financial services business (including cross border issues) – tax and compliance departments provide detailed support but awareness of how and where issues arise is key. 
• Good writing and presentation skills with an ability to summarise key procedures in a clear and concise manner.  

Desirable:

• European language skills would be helpful but not essential
• Paralegal or qualified solicitor 
• Experience in financial services 

And of course, we expect all our colleagues to embody and practice the Group values (alignment with the Bank’s strategy, commitment, work ethic, integrity and Code of Conduct).

A bit more about why you should join us

1. We’re a great place to work

We aim for optimal work/life balance (depending on role, this includes hybrid working, flexible working and agile)

We are proud of our award-winning flexible benefits and health & wellbeing strategy. Our flexible benefits include:

• Generous holiday allowance of at least 26 days (plus bank holidays) – with option to buy and sell holidays.

• Valuable financial plans – a 12% non-contributory pension which has been moved to sustainable investments*, life assurance*, income protection and personal accident insurance.

• Extensive wellbeing and mental health offering – one of the most advanced private medical schemes in the UK, dental cover, wellbeing app, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy support, subsidised gym memberships, bespoke health assessments including genetic testing, Private GP (including digital GP services to parents of employees), Employee Assistance Programme, menopause & fertility support (we are an accredited Menopause Friendly Employer), neurodiversity assessment and support.

• Key onsite services and facilities in Scotland – include free monthly massage and yoga, mental health first aiders and seasonal flu vouchers.

• Plus, emergency back-up care for dependants, green car leasing, season ticket loan, and a range of other benefits.

* Subject to relevant caps

2. As the eurozone’s largest bank, we are committed to having a positive impact in the world.  

For example, we are committed to Net Zero in all of our financing and investment portfolios by 2050. By 2030, 80% of our energy production financing will be low carbon.

But impact for us means more than climate. It means empowering our people every day. Everyone gets four volunteering days each year - in 2023, we achieved over 18,000 hours of volunteering across the UK and reaching over 4,500 young people.

3. We believe in our people

We support our people to develop skills to adapt to the ever-evolving world of work and to prepare for the jobs of today and tomorrow. We do this through a comprehensive training offering, talent programmes, mentoring, career days and inhouse career tools.

We are proud of the number of our people who progress and secure new roles internally. In fact, in 2023, nearly half of our positions in UK CIB were filled internally. 

Investing in our people also means we have a collaborative and inclusive culture:

• Direct feedback from our people shows that our internal culture sets us apart from our industry peers.

• Each year, nearly 30,000 employees globally are involved in professional networks that play an active role in promoting Diversity and Inclusion within the Group. These include our:

Pride Network, Ability Network (which supports disabled employees), MixCity (gender equality network), Women in Global Markets, Women in Global Banking, Women in IT, Diversity Equity & Inclusion in Technology, Early Careers Network, Multicultural Network and Parents & Carers Network.

Equal opportunities 

BNP Paribas is committed to providing a work environment that fosters diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.

Adjustments

We don’t want anyone to be disadvantaged in our recruitment processes, so if you have a disability or health condition which may mean that you’d benefit from some adjustments or additional support, please let us know as early in the process as possible.

#LI-Hybrid