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About Wintermute
Wintermute is a technology unicorn and one of the leading global players in the digital asset markets. Wintermute is the largest crypto-native algorithmic trading company providing liquidity across all major exchanges and trading platforms. Our OTC desk offers a wide range of spot and derivatives products and supports over 2,000 counterparties across crypto natives and traditional financial institutions. We actively participate in the development of the blockchain ecosystem by being one of the largest players in DeFi as well as our investments arm, partnerships and incubations.
Wintermute was founded in 2017 by trading industry leaders and has successfully navigated multiple crypto industry cycles. Culturally, we combine the best of the two worlds: the technology standards of high-frequency trading firms in traditional markets and the innovative and entrepreneurial culture of technology start-ups. Read more here.
Nature of the role:
We are looking for candidates with a strong financial services regulatory background and cross-border experience in the UK, US and EU. The ideal candidate will leverage their traditional financial markets experience and apply it to Wintermute’s digital asset trading business, including proprietary trading and liquidity provisioning in spot crypto assets, derivatives and tokenized financial instruments. This candidate will have an opportunity to shape Wintermute’s global regulatory strategy and lead policy discussions with the UK, US and EU regulators, as well as commercial trading negotiations. This role involves close collaboration with our regulatory, business, and product teams worldwide.
Key Responsibilities:
- Advise and lead on global regulatory matters with a focus on relevant financial services regulations in the UK, US and EU including UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“UK FSMA”), EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulations (“MiCAR”).
- Advise the business on regulatory licence applications and work closely with stakeholders across Compliance, Finance, Operations and other relevant teams to ensure a practical and operationally feasible implementation of regulatory obligations.
- Lead and manage the mitigation of cross-border regulatory and litigation risks affecting the firm, including supporting the compliance function with enquiries from regulators and third parties, and utilise external counsel where appropriate to achieve the desired outcomes.
- Draft, negotiate and advise the business on a range of trading and commercial agreements in relation to our business lines (OTC, liquidity provisioning, exchange agreements, lending agreements and others).
- Support and collaborate with the business and control functions to ensure that the firm’s trading agreement templates are fit-for-purpose and in compliance with applicable regulations as well as Wintermute’s global regulatory positions.
- Conduct legal analysis and research on novel legal issues arising from new markets or products (e.g., tokenized investment funds and securities), and provide compliant but commercially viable legal solutions in uncertain or evolving regulatory environments.
- Monitor and assess the implications of the evolving global financial markets regulatory landscape (traditional and digital assets) as it may apply to Wintermute and engage with regulators and policymakers, including the FCA, SEC, CFTC and ESMA.
- Contribute to a wide range of legal matters depending on skills, preferences and company needs, including trading negotiations, commercial disputes, employment, and corporate projects.
Skills Required:
- 7-10 years experience as a practising financial markets regulatory lawyer at a top-tier US/UK law firm.
- Extensive and demonstrable experience in advising on cross-border financial services regulatory matters (contentious and non-contentious) as it applies to proprietary trading firms as well as proven experience dealing with regulatory agencies such as the FCA, ESMA, SEC etc.
- Strong knowledge of UK FSMA, EU MiFiD or similar tradfi and digital asset regulatory regimes.
- Expertise in responding to, handling and managing regulatory enquiries, document requests and commercial disputes, advising senior stakeholders on and mitigating regulatory and commercial risks in a practical manner.
- An inherent sense of self-motivation to take ownership and control and deliver on projects by being hands-on and identifying the right external resources to solve specific questions within a project.
Nice to have but not mandatory:
- Prior in-house experience in a regulated environment in the digital assets industry.
- Experience and knowledge of Singapore PSA and SFA and dealing with the MAS.
- An interest in and/or a strong understanding of the contractual and commercial issues relevant to proprietary trading firms (for e.g. experience with drafting and negotiating trading and lending agreements).
Here is why you should join our dynamic team:
- Opportunity to work at one of the world's leading algorithmic trading firms
- Engaging projects offering accelerated responsibilities and ownership compared to traditional finance environments.
- A vibrant working culture with team meals, festive celebrations, gaming events and company wide team building events.
- A Wintermute-inspired office in central London, featuring an array of amenities such as table tennis and foosball, personalized desk configurations, a cozy team breakout area with games.
- Great company culture: informal, non-hierarchical, ambitious, highly professional with a startup vibe, collaborative and entrepreneurial.
- A performance-based compensation with a significant earning potential alongside standard perks like pension and private health insurance.
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