Finance FS - Associate (3-5 PQE) - London

We are looking for an associate with a general finance/structured finance background to join our growing Financial Services Transactions practice in the London office.  

About us

CMS is a Future Facing firm with more than 80 offices in over 45 countries and 5,800+ lawyers worldwide. We combine deep local market understanding with a global perspective. We are passionate about building strong relationships with our clients, our people, and the communities we work in.

We take a bold, dynamic, and agile approach to ensure our clients are able to face the future with confidence. We are driven by emerging technologies such as generative AI and readily embrace the possibilities it opens up for developing new and better ways of working.  Our aim is to inspire, impact and support our clients and our people, helping them to maximize their potential and thrive.

About the role

The FS Transactions team advises pension schemes, insurers, reinsurers, banks and other financial institution clients on regulatory and capital-driven transactions. The team has 4 partners and 12 associates, some of whom come from a traditional finance background. While the transactions are often insurance based, they are typically collateralised and built around core financial markets concepts such as set-off and netting. No pensions or life insurance knowledge is required for the position. 

 
A large portion of the work is structured reinsurance transactions between UK life companies and global reinsurers. A smaller part of our practice is bank and pension trustee facing. Most of the transactions we work on involve working with different asset classes (including illiquid assets, many of which are debt-based) that comprise the premium or security in these structures. 
In this role, you can expect to get involved in a variety of work including:
 
•    novel structured products; 
•    vanilla tripartite custody account security structures (usually including an account control agreement);
•    title transfer collateral arrangements; 
•    capital regulation;
•    securitisations and repackaging, including SPIRE;
•    taking security over illiquid structures, like fund units and interests, long term mortgages, credit and real estate;
•    issues around set off and netting, close out and termination, including for cross border transactions.
Core clients of the team include: L&G, Pacific Life, PIC, Pheonix, Rothesay and Just Retirement.
 
The CMS team is the largest in the city to focus on this work and is involved in many cutting edge and novel transactions. Successful candidates will be well supported and will get the opportunity to work on big, complex transactions in a growing area.

We are ideally looking for candidates with between 3-6 years of previous qualified experience, though this is not conclusive and we will consider each candidate on their own merit.

About you

We will invest in your ongoing training and development to support your professional goals and help you to thrive in your role from day one. Our opportunities are open to all suitably qualified applicants, so to be considered for this role you must have transferable transactional skills, be open minded and enthusiastic. 

No specific regulatory experience or knowledge is needed - we are looking for solid legal skills with enquiring minds keen to learn on the job to develop a sector specific focus in transactional work in the FS team at CMS.

What’s in it for you?

We want to reward you today and help you plan for tomorrow. We appreciate that everyone is different, therefore we have designed a benefits system that offers choice and flexibility based on individual needs and lifestyles. To name a few, these include:

•    Competitive basic salary (reviewed annually)
•    Flexible, hybrid working policy
•    Generous bonus scheme
•    Up to 25 days holiday (rising to 28 days with service)
•    Holiday exchange scheme
•    Private medical insurance
•    Enhanced parental leave
•    Reasonable adjustments and accommodation for disabled talent in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

If you would like to read more information regarding our range of benefits, please visit our Rewards & Benefits page on our website.

Equal opportunities

At CMS, we place diversity and inclusion at the centre of our culture and the heart of our organisation. As a firm we recognise, celebrate, and embrace the diverse talent our society has to offer because we know that to solve big problems, we need the best and brightest minds available to us.  In support of this goal, we commit to actively breaking down barriers which stand in the way of those from diverse backgrounds and play our part in levelling the playing field. 
 
As a Future Facing Firm, we strongly believe that a career in law should be open to people from all walks of life, because not only does diversity of thought and experience make our firm a stronger and more sustainable business, but it also makes it a more rewarding place to work.
 
When recruiting, we prioritise attracting talented people and we actively promote a flexible working environment which enables all our team members to thrive. If you see a role you are interested in, but don’t feel you meet 100% of the criteria we encourage you to still consider making an application. We also welcome applications from those who may be looking to return to the workforce after a career break. 
 
We are proud to say our leadership in creating an inclusive working culture has been celebrated and recognised externally, including being listed for a number of years in the Times Top 50 Employers for Women and the Social Mobility Index.
 
We are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer, and we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities, whether visible or invisible. We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity throughout our recruitment process and in every element of the employee life cycle. If you require assistance, or if you would like to discuss any accessibility requirements or adjustments as part of the recruitment process, please contact Becky Lowe at TalentAcquisition@cms-cmno.com who will be happy to support you.

Ready to apply? Here are the next steps.

We look forward to receiving your application online via the CMS careers site. Please contact our Talent Acquisition team if you have any questions. 

Please note that we have a preferred agency panel in place. Only applications submitted via the portal at the point of instruction will be accepted.

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