Associate General Counsel

Job description

Role Title: Associate General Counsel

Business: Legal

New or Existing Role- Replacement

Grade: GCB3


Role Purpose
· Primary responsibility to provide and oversee all legal advice, guidance and support for the Global Mergers and Acquisitions team of Group Strategy and Planning, and to support the work of General Counsel, Group M&A to ensure that the Group's exposure to legal risk on M&A projects is appropriately managed and that the execution of the Group's M&A strategies and initiatives are appropriately facilitated. In addition, the incumbent will be expected to provide legal support on general corporate matters arising within Group Strategy and Planning, as required.


Key Accountabilities
Impact on the Business:
· Provide counsel and end-to-end support on a variety of legal matters in the M&A field globally (acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and strategic alliances) including matters that are complex or have potential for significant impact.
· Drive legal aspects of M&A projects, including transaction structure, legal due diligence, bidder process, deal negotiation, contract drafting, regulatory compliance and transaction management.
· To be considered a trusted adviser to the business by ensuring that commercially sensitive, pragmatic and practical legal support and advice is provided in a cost-effective manner to the Global M&A team and Group Strategy and Planning.
· Provide support and guidance to the Global M&A team, Group Strategy and Planning and the Global Legal Function with regard to the identification and management of legal risks in the M&A area.
· Provide leadership, guidance, assistance and oversight to/of other M&A practitioners in the Global Legal Function, drive the M&A process, policy and standards implementation to ensure that the Group's exposure to legal risks in M&A globally is managed appropriately.
· To be a guardian of HSBC's reputation, values and brand through appropriate legal and commercial guidance and the escalation of matters that create potential for undue reputational, legal or commercial risk.

Customers / Stakeholders
· Provide prompt, commercial, practical and high quality legal advice to the Global M&A team, Group Strategy and Planning and the Global Legal Function.
· Be pro-active in the provision of legal support and in advising the business promptly of material legal developments and their implication.
· Ensure General Counsel, Group M&A is fully briefed on major issues on transactions and major legislative changes in area of expertise.
· Recommend selection of panel firms and other appropriate external parties in respect of Global M&A transactions


Leadership & Teamwork
· Maintain and develop a positive and professional working relationship with all team members within Group Legal and the Global M&A team.
· Lead, manage, review and support any legal advisors, secondees and/or support staff that report to the jobholder.
· Participate effectively as part of the Group Legal team within the Global Legal Function.

· Participate in the co-ordination and promotion of initiatives that result in the sharing of legal knowledge and best practices in the Global Legal Function.

Operational Effectiveness & Control
· Provide legal services in a cost effective manner.
· Co-ordinate and manage the approach to legal risk in the Global Functions and Global Businesses for which the jobholder is responsible, to ensure that the legal, commercial and reputational interests of HSBC are adequately protected.
· Implement and employ legal risk management policies and controls in the relevant business areas.
· Assist the business to remain compliant with legal risk management requirements set out in the Group Standards Manual and Legal FIM.

Major Challenges

· The diverse responsibilities of the job and the number of jurisdictions in which HSBC operates requires:
· Strong ability to adapt work style to meet sometimes complex and varied workloads, and the need to travel for work and to deal with multiple projects and time zones.
· Strong ability to prioritise workloads in terms of legal risk and commercial considerations.
· Knowledge of HSBC Group operations and policies.
· Independent thinking and provision of advice and counsel that strikes an appropriate balance between management and mitigation of legal risk and business efficacy.
· Capability to see the bigger picture and understand inter-relationships between a range of complex issues.
· Capability to adapt communication style and content to appropriately address level of audience.
· Ability to distill and communicate ideas in an understandable manner assisting the client to make more difficult decisions.
· Acting as a role model for clients and colleagues, leading by example.


Role Context
· The jobholder assists General Counsel, Group M&A to manage legal risks across the Group in accordance with established policies and procedures. The diversity of HSBC's business, its geographic spread and the constant changes internally and externally means the diversity of matters which the jobholder is required to manage and advise on is very wide.
· The role requires an understanding of the structures of the HSBC Group, its standards and its culture and the ability to handle increasingly complex legal issues.
· Clients will predominantly be executives in Group M&A and Group Strategy and Planning.
· The jobholder must also establish close mutually supportive working relationships with other members of the Group Legal team and the Global Legal Function.
· The jobholder must work largely autonomously, but seek management input on unusual situations, highly complex issues and matters that may pose significant legal, financial or regulatory risk to the Group or a member of the Group
· The jobholder must act as a guardian of the Group's reputation, values and brand.

Role Dimensions

· The jobholder will be responsible primarily for providing legal support for the Global M&A team and to coordinate the approach to legal risk for the M&A area on a global basis.


Observation of Internal Controls

· The jobholder will adhere to and be able to demonstrate adherence to internal controls. This will be achieved by adherence to all relevant procedures, keeping appropriate records and, where appropriate, by the timely implementation of internal and external audit points, including issues raised by external regulators.
· The jobholder will implement the Group compliance policy by containing compliance risk in liaison with Global Head of Compliance, Global Compliance Officer, Area Compliance Officer or Local Compliance Officer. The term ‘compliance' embraces all relevant financial services laws, rules and codes with which the business has to comply.
· This will be achieved by adhering to all relevant processes/procedures and by liaising with Compliance department about new business initiatives at the earliest opportunity. Also and when applicable, by ensuring adequate resources are in place and training is provided, fostering a compliance culture and optimising relations with regulators.

Management Risk
· The jobholder is responsible for (i) providing legal advice against the backdrop of both the external legal framework and the internal Group Standards Policy, internally adopted M&A procedures and the Legal FIM (ii) assisting Group Strategy and Planning with to manage legal risks associated with the initiatives it is undertaking (iii) guarding the reputation, values and brand of the Group.
· The jobholder will also continually reassess the operational risks associated with the role and inherent in the business, taking account of changing economic or market conditions, legal and regulatory requirements, operating procedures and practices, management restructurings, and the impact of new technology.
· This will be achieved by ensuring all actions take account of the likelihood of operational risk occurring and also by addressing any areas of concern in conjunction with line management and/or the appropriate department.

Desired profile

Qualifications :

Knowledge & Experience / Qualifications

·  Qualified lawyer with significant mergers and acquisitions experience - an experienced and confident practioner.
·  Knowledge and experience of banking, corporate and securities law concepts and a working knowledge of the laws in the major jurisdictions in which HSBC opera
·  Compliance experience an advantage, but not essential.
·  Good knowledge of the HSBC Group corporate structures, its business and personnel and a clear understanding of HSBC's corporate culture.
·  Strong leadership skills
·  Strong negotiation skills.
·  Strong attention to detail.
·  Strong ability to priortise – self starter, able to operate independently with good organisational skills
·  Up-to-date knowledge of developments in M&A.
·  Able to handle a diverse range of issues.
·  Strong communication and inter-personal skills.
·  Stamina and ability to work under pressure.


We are a diverse workforce and it is part of our organizational culture, it reflects our belief that diversity of thought, background and perspective make HSBC a stronger organization. We strive to implement a culture that is inclusive, diverse, positive and performance-oriented. Having a diverse workforce allows us to benefit from a variety of perspectives and strengthens our local and global competitiveness. We value diversity in our workforce and encourage all qualified candidates to apply from a variety of perspectives and strengthens our local and global competitiveness. We value diversity in our workforce and encourage all qualified candidates to apply.

As a business operating in markets all around the world, we believe diversity brings benefits for our customers, our business and our people. This is why HSBC is committed to being an inclusive employer and encourages applications from all suitably qualified applicants irrespective of background, circumstances, age, disability, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or belief and sexual orientation.

We want everyone to be able to fulfil their potential which is why we provide a range of flexible working arrangements and family friendly policies.

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