Staff Attorney

SUMITOMO MITSUI TRUST BANK, LIMITED•New York, NY

16h•Hybrid

About The Position

This role is for Assistant Vice President level candidates. About the Bank Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited (SuMi TRUST) is one of the largest asset managers in Asia. The Bank provides an assortment of financial solutions and manages a broad spectrum of financial products across its global branches. DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW: The Americas Division (“AD”) was established in the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited, New York Branch) (“SMTBNY”) to perform corporate functions and supervise U.S. entities. Established under the AD are the “Global Banking Unit (“GBU”), Americas Division” and “Global Markets Unit (“GMU”), Americas Division” which perform business functions. The Legal Department (“LGL”) provides support to all departments of the New York Branch for legal consultation and advice in order to reduce legal and regulatory risk and to reduce the overall legal costs of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited. YOUR ROLE OVERVIEW: The Attorney is actively involved in reviewing, drafting, and negotiating legal documentation relating to the daily, on-going activities of the Bank. Responsible for assisting the General Counsel, Senior Counsel, and the Assistant General Counsels in handling the overall activities of the Legal Department, including supervising support staff. May have direct report subordinate staff.

Requirements

Law (J.D.) degree. Membership in the New York State Bar.
4 years of experience, preferably in a law firm or comparable in-house experience.
Experience as a transactional attorney required.
Ability to review, draft, and negotiate complex legal documents.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the areas of asset management and banking regulation preferred.

Responsibilities

Be available to all departments of SMTBNY, SMTBUSA, SMTAMA, relevant Tokyo head office departments and other domestic and international offices of SMTB, and its affiliates, for legal consultation and advice, and respond to inquiries in a timely manner.
Assists in the coordination of the development of new products and improvements of existing services with SMTB business departments.
Engage and oversee outside legal counsel as needed.
Review all documentation relating to daily operations of Bank, including NDAs, third party vendor agreements, syndicated loan agreements, amendments, and assignment agreements.
Represents SMTB in all legal matters whether or not outside counsel is retained including bilateral loans in the areas of real estate, fund finance, structured finance, project finance and CLOs.
Attempts to reduce overall legal costs of SMTB by assuming legal work that might otherwise be performed by outside counsel but can be performed internally without incurring material risk to SMTB.
Keeps apprised of statutes, regulations, case law and other legal developments, as well as proposed changes therein, relevant to SMTB.
Monitors compliance by SMTB with applicable law; in this regard, keeps apprised of SMTB's current and contemplated activities.
Conducts periodic seminars involving topical issues relevant to SMTB and its business activities.
Communicates to all departments of SMTB the role and availability of the legal department.
Develops and updates handbooks and policies on pertinent issues.
Performs other duties and responsibilities as assigned by management.
Be physically present at SMTBUSA (Hoboken) when necessary but no more than once per month.
Work closely with outside counsel where outside counsel is retained, including attending all meetings and conference calls and attending to structuring and documentation issues.
Responsible for and review Customer Profile/Regulatory Compliance Checklists (Lending Group): required for each new customer.
Reviews Account Opening Application Forms (NY Unit): required for each new customer.
Reviews BSA Risk Matrices: required for each new customer.
Maintains the Branch's customer identification program with risk-based procedures that enable the Branch to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identify of its customers.
Being fully knowledgeable of the Bank Secrecy Act and all related regulations.
Understanding the Branch's products, services, customers and geographic locations.
Having the expertise, authority, and time to satisfactorily complete her BSA/AML related responsibilities.
Ensuring that employees adhere to the Branch's BSA/AML policies, procedures and
Assisting the General Counsel, Senior Counsel and Assistant General Counsels in maintaining and updating relevant Branch Policies relating to BSA/AML compliance.