General Counsel

Our client, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the regulator of non-banking financial institutions in Barbados, is recruiting for a qualified and experienced law professional.

Title: General Counsel

Work type: Full Time, Permanent

Seniority level: Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer

Direct Reports: Legal Officer, Investigators, Legal Assistant, Complaints Coordinator

Industry: Financial services regulation

Work location: Barbados (applications accepted from across the Caribbean) 

Position Description:

Our client, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the regulator of non-banking financial institutions in Barbados, is recruiting for a qualified and experienced professional to join its team in the role of General Counsel. In this senior management role, the General Counsel provides legal advice and support relating to the FSC’s operations, regulatory and supervisory functions. The General Counsel acts in support of the Chief Executive Officer and the FSC with respect to actions under the relevant laws administered by the Commission.

Key Responsibilities include: 

• Recommending legislative changes as needed to support and further enhance the regulatory protection for policyholders, pension plan members, investors, and cooperative members.
• Representing or coordinating the representation of the FSC in any court or forum in which the FSC has litigious interest and monitoring the progress of legal action filed by or against the FSC on an as required basis.
• Providing corporate secretarial support within the FSC and overseeing the production of the minutes of the Board of Commissioners and other Board Committee meetings.
• Executing legal components actions initiated by supervisory and examinations divisions, including requiring board undertakings, issuing directions, issuing cease and desist orders, entering into temporary management, suspending and revoking licences and taking court action.
• Recommending enforcement and other actions to the Chief Executive Officer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Board of Commissioners and other members of the management team as appropriate.
• Overseeing the investigation and complaints functions of the FSC and developing and maintaining appropriate investigative and forensic systems and processes to support regulatory objectives, enforcement actions, responses to consumer complaints and availability of expert advice where appropriate.

Core Competencies and skills

• Exhibits integrity, trust, objectivity, and accountability in approach to work
• Excellent relationship building and management skills in respect of a myriad of internal and external stakeholders
• Effective leadership and motivational skills with the ability to build and inspire a high-performing team
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively engage internal and external stakeholders
• Strong analytical and decision-making skills
• Performance driven and can effectively manage own workload and that of the team supervised
• Proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite of software.

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications & experience:

• LLB or Jurist Doctor in Law; Council of Legal Education Certificate and be admitted to practise law in Barbados
• Ten (10) years’ experience in the practice of law, at least five (5) of which should be at a middle or senior management level; and
• At least four (4) years’ relevant legal experience in a regulatory environment, financial law or financial services law
• Experience in administrative, criminal, employment law, the law of evidence and law of contract
• Policy development experience
• Experience in AML/CFT compliance would be an asset

A compensation package commensurate with qualifications and experience will be offered.