Lead Counsel 2 - Treasury & Trade Solutions

Lead Counsel II is a senior level position responsible for providing legal guidance and thought leadership to the Services business.

The successful candidate will provide legal support to the Global Cash Services business, specifically, the Payments business, both at the global and country level, where applicable.  

The overall objective of this role is to provide legal support, advice, and guidance to the business.

Cash Services is a division of Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS), which sits within Citi’s Services business. One of the Product pillars within Cash Services is Payments.  The Global Payments business primarily supports corporates, banks/payment service providers and public sector customers with their payments and collections needs.

Reporting to the Global Payments Head in Product Legal, this role will provide global legal coverage of the Payments product areas, including new product development initiatives, providing advice on laws and regulations impacting the Products, providing advice on Payment scheme rules and requirements and drafting product service agreements. The role will involve interaction with stakeholders across Citi’s global network, including product managers, country counsel, risk and compliance stakeholders.

This role requires a pragmatic, proactive attorney with thorough understanding of the business, combined with a solid conceptual / practical grounding in the laws and regulations for the geographies in which we operate. Provides input into strategic decisions, exercising sound legal judgement to develop proactive, risk-appropriate, and commercially practical business-oriented solutions.

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for providing legal counsel to the Cash Services business, participating in strategic initiatives, providing subject matter expertise and interpretations of relevant laws, rules, regulations, and industry practices, and advising business management on legal matters impacting the business. Specific focus on Payments products and services.
• Review of eCommerce initiatives/solutions. Focus on solutions being provided to our fintech/marketplace/platform customers.
• Partners with legal peers to objectively evaluate business proposals by applying institutional knowledge and risk appetite against industry standards, widely accepted business practices, laws, rules, and regulatory guidelines, escalating as appropriate
• Collaborates across internal lines of business, control/support functions and/or external counsel to achieve coordinated and efficient outcomes on matters of common interest; coordinate closely with the Legal team on a regional and global basis
• Participates in business planning and development initiatives; contributes to business objectives by providing thought leadership using knowledge of industry, laws, and regulations
• Proactively identifies, evaluates, and contributes to the appropriate management of legal, regulatory, and reputational risk by collaborating with ICRM & Risk, following relevant legal developments, participating in internal projects, escalating as appropriate
• Manages day-to-day legal activities as a subject matter expert in area of responsibility and provide advisory services to business partners
• Monitors management of complex legal issues and transactions, escalating when necessary
• Appropriately assess risk when business decisions are made, demonstrating particular consideration for the firm's reputation and safeguarding Citigroup, its clients and assets, by driving compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, adhering to Policy, applying sound ethical judgment regarding personal behavior, conduct and business practices, and escalating, managing and reporting control issues with transparency, as well as effectively supervise the activity of others and create accountability with those who fail to maintain these standards

Qualifications/experience:

• 6-10 years of relevant industry experience, preferably in financial services
• Banking or financial industry experience, including laws related to banking regulations (specifically cash management and/or payments).
• Ideally, candidate will have experience with eCommerce and banking as a service solutions, whereby banks such as Citi provide services to support the various players in the eCommerce space, including marketplaces, platforms and fintechs. Knowledge of regulations impacting these players (licensing, AML requirements, client money/safeguarding considerations) is preferred.
• Knowledge of card acquiring and card networks (Visa and Mastercard), including expertise with advising on card network rules, is preferred.
• Knowledge of international laws, regulations and practices while staying abreast of regulatory and legal environme