Counsel - Regulatory

Responsibilities

• Provide legal support on UK cryptoasset, e-money, and payment-services regulatory requirements, including account-access obligations and operational compliance questions.
• Support active licensing applications and other UK licensing or registration workstreams, including compiling application materials and coordinating with outside counsel.
• Advise on regulatory aspects of corporate transactions and structural changes affecting UK entities, including change-of-control notifications and corporate client migrations.
• Support day-to-day relationships with regulators for licensed entities, including notifications, information requests, and supervisory correspondence.
• Translate the UK Cryptoasset Regime, FCA rulebooks, AML/CTF requirements, operational resilience, outsourcing, and e-money and payment-services regulation into practical guidance.
• Communicate complex legal and regulatory issues in plain English with clear recommendations and risk tradeoffs.

Requirements

• Qualified lawyer: Solicitor or Barrister of England and Wales, or equivalent.
• 6+ years of post-qualification experience in financial-services regulatory law.
• Experience at a regulated financial-services institution or law firm/private practice supporting regulated financial-services clients.
• Ability to independently own business-as-usual regulatory workstreams and regulator relationships.
• Direct experience engaging with the FCA or an equivalent regulator.
• Substantive experience with the UK Cryptoasset Regime and FCA authorization for regulated cryptoasset activities.
• Substantive UK e-money and payment-services regulatory experience, including account-access and open-banking obligations.
• Experience with AML/CTF policies, controls, and regulatory expectations.
• Experience advising on outsourcing arrangements and operational-resilience compliance, including the FCA/PRA regime.
• Outstanding analytical, drafting, organizational, and plain-English communication skills.
• Pragmatic, commercially accountable approach to legal and regulatory risk.
• Comfortable working autonomously across a broad, fast-moving workload.

Nice to Haves

• Familiarity with the UK's onshored MiFID regime and its application to investment services, including derivatives, equities, and tokenized financial instruments.
• Experience supporting change-of-control notifications or other regulatory aspects of corporate transactions.
• Interest in crypto and digital assets and familiarity with relevant products.