UK Legal Counsel

Position overview

As a Legal Counsel, you will play a critical role in ensuring Xapo meets its UK regulatory obligations. You will be instrumental in supporting the business with its UK regulatory applications and ongoing compliance with the UK’s legal and regulatory framework. A key part of this role will be to collaborate effectively with other key functions and to advise on the structuring and ongoing compliance of new product rollouts. You will be responsible for supporting our legal team particularly in the areas of conducting research, reviewing documentation, contracts, engagement terms, analysing complex legal information and summarising findings in clear, concise reports. Your work will be vital in allowing the Legal team and the wider business to operate effectively and compliantly.

This role will be based in the UK to support Xapo’s continued expansion into the UK. Xapo is in the process of securing the necessary regulatory authorisations to offer its UK-facing banking and crypto services from its new UK home.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the preparation and management of UK regulatory applications, ensuring all submissions are robust, timely and aligned with business objectives.
• Acting as a key legal adviser on the structuring and ongoing compliance of new product rollouts, collaborating closely with the Product, Marketing, Compliance and other key functions.
• Monitor, interpret and advise the business on the evolving UK legal and regulatory landscape, particularly within the Banking Fintech and Blockchain sectors.
• Be responsible for assessing, implementing and maintaining standards relating to key UK regulations, including the consumer duty principle and financial promotions rules.
• Review and analyse complex legal and regulatory information, providing concise analysis and actionable recommendations to internal stakeholders.
• Provide sound legal advice on a range of commercial and regulatory matters, including the review of client-facing communications to ensure compliance.

Skills needed

• Experience: 3+ years PQE, ideally gained from a combination of private practice and in-house roles within the Financial Services industry (primarily banking, payments or cryptoassets).
• Qualification: UK qualified lawyer (or equivalent) with significant practice and experience with the UK legal and regulatory environment.
• Regulatory Experience: Demonstrable, hands-on experience working on regulatory applications for fintechs within the banking, payments or cryptoasset industries will be highly desirable.
• Analytical and Advisory Skills: The ability to analyse complex UK legal and regulatory issues, conduct thorough research and provide clear, pragmatic and commercially-minded advice to the business.