Graduate Trainee - Legal

Major Accountabilities/Principal Responsibilities:

The Legal function in Australia is responsible for providing legal advice services in relation to all of the Lending and Markets based businesses which are located in the Societe Generale Sydney office. The major accountabilities and principal responsibilities for the role are:

• Providing legal advice, focusing on the financing business of the bank, including drafting, negotiation, review of related documentation and advising on the interpretation of laws and regulations and liaising with external counsel where necessary to the following business lines:
• Project Finance lending teams in Australia and Hong Kong, including Infrastructure, Metals and Mining, and Energy.
• Asset Backed Lending business in Australia which focuses on securitization and structured debt opportunities.
• Real Estate Financing business in Australia.
• Debt Capital Markets business in Australia.
• Corporate coverage lending business in Australia and Hong Kong; and
• Markets based business in Australia including ASX24 futures desk, Structured Products and Equity Derivative

Legal support to these business lines may involve tasks including the review of non-disclosure agreements, commitment letters, legal opinions, facility agreements and related security arrangements, including bilateral and syndicated financing, and project financing and finance-related hedging.

• Providing legal advice and assistance on legal matters to the front office, back office and middle office representatives and other teams or departments of the bank (including other legal teams in Asia and Europe) in connection with the local and regional Societe Generale activities
• Providing day-to-day transaction support and pro-active management of internal and administrative processes for Legal relating to the Australian business.   
• Staying up to date on developments and change in the regulatory sector which could affect the Australian business including in relation to privacy, unfair contract terms, financial services laws, the Corporations Act and modern slavery legislation.
• Reporting and escalating appropriate matters on an ongoing and regular basis to the line manager and working closely with other members of the legal department across the APAC region.
• Providing assistance in updating guidelines, procedures and standard templates.
• Other financing-related work covered by the legal department.

Qualifications, Experience & Knowledge Required:

• Tertiary qualification in Law and another discipline (for example, Arts, Commerce, Economics or Science) 
• Pre-graduate experience in a financial services or legal institution or setting desirable
• Strong ability in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, and Microsoft Office generally
• Knowledge and understanding of Australian laws, regulations and guidelines in relation to banking and financing activities and a working knowledge of related areas of law and regulatory environment

Behavioral Competency Required:

•  Analytical skills including the ability to apply legal analysis to different fact patterns as well as exceptional written and verbal communication and presentation skills
• Good communication skills with the ability to clearly explain complex financial and legal issues
• Strong interpersonal skills including the ability to develop working relationships with business teams in Sydney and the wider APAC region and act as liaison for Legal
• Discipline and professionalism: an ability to work under pressure to tight deadlines while maintaining a strong attention to detail
• Time management skills include a capacity to manage multiple tasks and the ability to priorities tasks as relevant and act proactively to keep Legal organized and up to date in transaction management
• Negotiation skills

Functional Relationships:

Internal: staff from business divisions and Legal and support functions (including operations, finance, risk and credit, compliance) locally, regionally and globally          

External: clients and external advisors (e.g. other lenders and external legal counsel)

Founded by a group of entrepreneurs in 1864 “to promote the development of trade and industry in France”, Societe Generale is today one of the leading European financial services groups. Based on a diversified and integrated banking model, the Group combines financial strength and proven expertise in innovation with a strategy of sustainable growth, aiming to be the trusted partner for its clients, and committed to the positive transformations of society and the economy.

Active in the real economy for over 160 years, with a solid position in Europe and connected to the rest of the world, Societe Generale has over 117,500 members of staff in 66 countries and supports on a daily basis 25 million individual clients, businesses and institutional investors around the world by offering a wide range of advisory services and tailored financial solutions.

Societe Generale has been present in Australia since 1981. Located in Sydney, it provides financing and advisory, as well as global markets solutions. Leveraging the strength of its client coverage and leadership in structured finance together with product and service offerings such as debt capital markets and asset-backed products, Societe Generale supports its Australian wholesale clients in their financing and advisory needs and serves its global clients who wish to access the Australian market with global banking services.

We are currently recruiting a graduate lawyer to join our Legal team in Australia as a Graduate Trainee – Legal.The successful candidate will be employed to work full time hours on a fixed term 12-month contract. This is an exciting opportunity to get hands-on experience within a fast-paced, results focused, global organization that values diversity. The successful candidate will be involved in a broad range of matters and will build close relationships with local teams and within the organization more broadly on a regional and global basis.

This is a unique role for a graduate lawyer, to work in a small format team and work alongside and gain exposure to senior professionals in a global bank. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to learn legal skills across a wide range of financing and markets businesses in an atmosphere where they are mentored and carefully trained. This includes the opportunity to develop key skills including drafting, transaction management, legal research, and work with and develop relationships with senior business and legal leaders in the Sydney and Asia Pacific offices across Societe Generale. This role offers a great start to a legal career in banking and finance, with an opportunity for the graduate lawyer to be exposed to a variety of areas of banking and finance law.