Chief Legal and Regulatory Affairs Officer at Kenya Bankers Association

EABX is looking to recruit an individual with experience in the financial and capital markets industry as Chief Legal and Regulatory Affairs Officer (CLRO). The successful candidate will be responsible for EABX’s legal, compliance, corporate responsibility (CR) and regulatory affairs. It is expected that once EABX receives approvals as a selfregulatory organization, the individual will lead initiatives relating to market surveillance, member regulation, inspection, and compliance. The individual will also provide legal counsel to EABX’s leadership team and board of
directors.

Responsibilities

General Counsel

• Provide counsel on general legal and business matters to the Board and management;
• Handle day-to-day legal matters throughout organization;
• Manage complex legal projects, engage in complex legal analysis and problem solving, and provide appropriate legal and business recommendations informed by realistic risk assessment, to enable the company to achieve its objectives while mitigating and/or eliminating legal risk. Additional areas of responsibility may include drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and managing service agreements, vendor contracts, and other contracts;
• Assist with defending the company in threatened, pending, and active litigation;
• Analysing business opportunities, potential acquisitions, and business arrangements to assess and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements; and working closely with various company stakeholders to evaluate and, where appropriate, implement innovative business concepts and arrangements;
• Manage record retention and key document maintenance;
• Act as the independent and objective party to review and evaluate potential legal issues/concerns within the organization;
• Proactively identify potential areas of legal vulnerability and risk;

Corporate Responsibility

• Oversee the development and implementation of the firm's corporate responsibility agenda and initiatives by crafting goals, policies and initiatives that align with the firm's business strategies and operational objectives and support communities where we do business. CR includes Government Relations, Philanthropy and Sustainable Finance;
• Support the leadership team on a wide variety of projects with components of policy development, strategy, project management, data gathering and analysis, research, and management reporting;
• Identify and monitor regulatory policy developments on emerging regulatory issues (e.g., prudential, digital assets and technology, sustainable finance, and markets policy from domestic regulators and international standard setting bodies (e.g., IOSCO);
• Lead management reporting initiatives on regulatory policy developments. Coordinate various firm-wide policy forums, track policy updates, and consolidate input from a variety of stakeholders into quarterly regulatory policy development reports;
• Prepare briefings for senior management engagement with external stakeholders, including policymakers, membership, and trade associations;
• Identify and drive strategic alliances and partnerships to augment EABX’s capabilities and capacity;

Compliance

• Ensure that the company is in compliance with established legal and regulatory policies, procedures and statutory regulations;
• Ensure, as a key financial market intermediary, the business meets PFMI – IOSCO standards, regularly ensuring the assessment and relevant disclosures are made to key stakeholders;
• Responsible for overseeing and managing regulatory compliances, including assisting with the regulatory audit functions;

CRO Responsibilities

• Review, draft and maintain applicable rules, procedures and policies governing the business and its membership;
• Promote market transparency, visibility and information symmetry by monitoring and reinforcing business conduct rules, and ensuring effective surveillance and inspection; and
• Assist with other projects and duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Relevant undergraduate, postgraduate, and professionally certified related qualifications (Current bar membership, in good standing);
• At least 8 years of overall professional and senior management experience as a licensed attorney with a focus in the financial and capital markets industry;
• Strong record of general managerial experience in financial services with demonstrated ability to maintain relationships with intermediaries and deliver superior customer service;
• Possess legal and regulatory demonstrable expertise in matters relating to money markets, capital markets, bond market & trading, clearing, settlement and related matters;
• Seniority, gravitas, and credentials to engage with internal stakeholders as well as external partners at the highest levels, customers and suppliers;
• Strong leadership and people management skills;
• Excellent analytical, organizational, problem-solving skills, and attention to detail;
• Excellent writing, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to distil and present complex information plainly and succinctly.
• Ability to take initiative, strong project, and time management skills with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple assignments and time sensitive deliverables, and learn new topics quickly;
• Demonstrated ability to perform and document detailed legal research and synthesize advice into concise summaries;
• Demonstrated ability to provide practical and actionable advice in a dynamic and ambiguous legal environment; and
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, multi-task, and manage multiple assignments simultaneously.

Preferred qualifications

• Capital markets legal and regulatory experience;
• Keen understanding of the regulatory process as it applies to global financial services issues;
• Have cross-functional abilities relevant in a nascent business environment;
• Experience in executive level documentation, presentation development, and delivery; and
• Contract negotiation experience (e.g., negotiating various provisions in master service agreements, supplier agreements, statements of work, etc.)