Summer Clerk – Legal

Major Accountabilities/Principal Responsibilities

We are currently accepting applications for a paid 4-week summer clerkship in our Legal team in Australia. This is an exciting opportunity to get hands-on experience within a fast-paced, results focused, global organization that values diversity.

The Legal team 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. This includes providing legal advice covering a range of responsibilities from drafting, negotiation and review of related documentation to advising on the interpretation of laws and regulations and liaising with external counsel. It also includes staying up to date on developments and change in the regulatory sector which could affect the Australian business, including in relation to financial services laws, the Corporations Act and modern slavery legislation. The team also provides assistance in updating internal guidelines and procedures.

The summer clerk will have the opportunity to work with senior professionals and learn certain basic legal skills in a range of different financing businesses in an atmosphere where they are mentored and trained.  They will cultivate key skills including drafting, transaction management and legal research, and they will have the opportunity to work with and develop relationships with business and legal staff in the Sydney and APAC offices of Societe Generale including Hong Kong and Singapore.

This role offers a great entry to a legal career in banking and finance, with an opportunity for the summer clerk to gain exposure to a range of banking and finance areas and to elect afterwards to seek graduate in-house legal roles or to head into private practice with some initial professional experience.

Qualifications, Experience & Knowledge Required

• Current student in Law (completing their second last year of studies) and another discipline (for example, Arts, Commerce, Economics or Science).  It is expected that applicants will be entering the final year of their university studies in 2025.  
• Pre-graduate experience in a financial or legal institution desirable and considered favourably but is not necessary for the role
• 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 Competencies Required:

• Proven analytical skills including the ability to apply legal analysis to different fact patterns
• 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
• Curious and keen to learn with a genuine interest in the banking sector
• Team player

Functional Relationships:

• Internal: staff from business divisions and Legal and support functions (including operations, risk and credit, compliance) locally, regionally and globally               
• External: clients and external advisors (e.g. other lenders and external legal counsel)

Company Description 

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.

Societe Generale also provides its global markets solutions by offering futures execution and clearing, equity derivatives sales and structured product distribution. Working with us means being part of an exciting collective vision: “Building together, with our clients, a better and sustainable future through responsible and innovative financial solutions”. Here, you can challenge yourself in a stimulating, flexible and inclusive workplace with numerous career prospects. You can make a positive impact in the societies where we operate and evolve in a people-oriented workplace. With us, you can merge your career aspirations with your personal commitments through the values that bring us together: Commitment, Innovation, Responsibility and Team Spirit. Societe Generale actively encourages internal and international mobility, offering staff at all stages of their career the opportunity to explore new functional and geographic opportunities.