Prime Brokerage and Securities Finance Attorney

About Clear Street:

Clear Street is modernizing the brokerage ecosystem. Founded in 2018, Clear Street is a diversified financial services firm replacing the legacy infrastructure used across capital markets. 

We started from scratch by building a completely cloud-native clearing and custody system designed for today’s complex, global market. Our platform is fully integrated with central clearing houses and exchanges to support billions in trading volume per day. We’ve agonized about our data model abstractions, created horizontal scalability, and crafted thoughtful APIs. All so we can provide a best-in-class experience for our clients. 

By combining highly-skilled product and engineering talent with seasoned finance professionals, we’re building the essentials to compete in today’s fast-paced markets.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Prime Brokerage and Securities Finance Attorney to join our dynamic legal team. This role will focus on providing expert legal counsel and support for a wide range of complex transactions and regulatory matters related to our prime brokerage, securities finance, futures and commodities, and equity derivatives businesses. The ideal candidate will possess a deep understanding of relevant regulations, strong negotiation skills, and the ability to collaborate effectively with business partners and control functions as they work to achieve commercial outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

1. Agreement Negotiation and Execution:  
   • Prepare, negotiate, and execute equity and fixed-income prime brokerage agreements with major market participants (banks and hedge funds in the US, UK, EU, and Asia), including prime brokerage and margin lock-up agreements, custody and clearing contracts, and fully-disclosed and omnibus clearing agreements, ISDAs, MRAs/GMRAs, MSLAs/GMSLAs, and master netting agreements. 
2. Regulatory Advisory:
   • Provide regulatory advice to front and middle office, as well as compliance personnel on the dynamic regulatory requirements for the global trading of cash equities, fixed income, options, futures and commodities, and derivatives. 
   • Provide expert legal advice and support for prime brokerage, securities finance, and futures-related regulatory issues, ensuring compliance and risk mitigation.
3. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
   • Work with colleagues in the legal department in the US and overseas to coordinate advice regarding transactions and actual and proposed regulatory changes.
   • Coordinate with compliance, credit, and other control functions to ensure that internal approvals, legal policy points, and legal/regulatory changes are understood and reflected in final documentation.
   • Actively participate in the management of legal, regulatory, and reputational risk issues.
4. Counterparty Engagement:
   • Engage with a diverse range of counterparties, including hedge funds, investment advisers, private equity funds, banks, broker-dealers, and institutional investors, across various asset classes.
5. Risk Management:

• • Proactively identify and address legal risks associated with the company’s sales and trading activities and provide strategic solutions to enhance risk control.
  • Work with various members of the Finance team to manage external counsel engagements and control legal costs and expenses.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing with a state bar.
• Minimum of seven to ten years of experience in prime brokerage and securities finance law, preferably within a major financial institution or law firm.
• Extensive knowledge of relevant securities laws and regulations, including the 1933 and 1934 Acts.
• Proven experience negotiating, drafting, and reviewing complex legal agreements.
• Strong understanding of equities, fixed income, commodities, futures, and derivatives products and the nuances associated with regulations and legal agreements for these areas.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment while balancing competing priorities within tight deadlines.  
• Strong risk management and problem-solving skills

We Offer: 

The Base Salary Range for this role is $180,000 - $210,000. This range is representative of the starting base salaries for this role at Clear Street. Where a candidate falls in this range will be based on job related factors such as relevant experience, skills, and location. This range represents Base Salary only, which is just one element of Clear Street's total compensation. The range stated does not include other factors of total compensation such as bonuses or equity.

At Clear Street, we offer competitive compensation packages, company equity, 401k matching, gender neutral parental leave, and full medical, dental and vision insurance. Our belief has always been that we are better as a business when we are all together in person. We are requiring employees to be in the office 4 days per week. In-office benefits include lunch stipends, fully stocked kitchens, happy hours, a great location, and amazing views.

Our top priority is our people. We’re continuously investing in a culture that promotes collaboration. We help each other through challenges and celebrate each other's successes. We believe that modern workplaces succeed by virtue of having high-performance workforces that are diverse — in ideas, in cultures, and in experiences. We put in the effort to make such a workplace a daily reality and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. #LI-Hybrid

#LI-Hybrid